INFORMATION DIGEST OF PRESS OF UZBEKISTAN # 147

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INFORMATION DIGEST OF PRESS OF UZBEKISTAN # 147

July 23, 2014

economy.. 2

“Uzbekenergo” for the first half-year produced 23 billion kWh of electricity. 2

International cooperation.. 2

His Excellency Mr. Islam Karimov, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 2

history.. 3

People inhabited Uzbekistan’s territory as long ago as the Stone Age. 3

tourism… 3

Tourism: an essential component of the national economy. 3

 

 

 

 

 

economy

“Uzbekenergo” for the first half-year produced 23 billion kWh of electricity

“Uzbekenergo” State Joint-Stock Company summarized the work for the first half of 2014. Thus, according to the company, the growth rate of production made 100.4%. Electricity supply made 23 billion kW/h or 101.2%. An export of goods and services was finished ​​by 123.3%.

Task for the production of localized products based on local raw materials at the company performed at 104.4%. In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the investment program of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2014” implementation of large investment projects are carried out. Implementation of projects on construction of combined-cycle plant is carried out in a number of thermal power plants, particularly at Talimarjan, Tashkent, Navoiy stations.

In addition, full-scale modernization of 2 units of Syrdarya TPS is being implemented. Currently a supply of equipment to TPS is being carried out by the main supplier. Following construction works are being implemented within the projects for the power supply development:

– 500 kV “Syrdarya TPS – Novo-Angren TPS” contract for the supply of equipment and materials, construction and installation works are being carried out;

– Tender for the supply of equipment is held on the external power supply facilities of Ustyurt GCC a, an evaluation of the technical proposals is completed. Building and assembly jobs are being held on-site;

– To modernize and upgrade of 0,4-6-10-35 kV electrical networks, current lines totaling 370 km of length and over 300 sets of transformer substations are built.

Enterprises of the company are working on the implementation of advanced electricity meters. On the construction of a solar power plant project in the Samarkand region, a loan agreement was signed between Uzbekistan and ADB and approved the feasibility study. Within the «Year of a healthy child” State program a sectoral program aimed at improving the supply of the population, further improving the quality of life of workers and the energy industry has been developed. Costs for implementation of measures to the above mentioned program for the first half-year amounted to 1.8 billion soums. Within the food program produced 10.95 tons of meat, 369.62 tons of milk, 155 tons of dairy products, and 308.5 tons of vegetables, including 235.4 tons of cucumbers and 73.1 tons of tomatoes. (Currency rates of CB from 23.07.2014   1$= 2328.16 soums)

(Source: “Business Partner.uz” newspaper)

International cooperation

His Excellency Mr. Islam Karimov, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Your Excellency!

I express my sincere gratitude for the warm welcome extended by You and the Uzbek people during my State visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan.

At the top-level meeting, the two countries agreed to promote various projects not only in energy sector, but also in the spheres of e-government, information technologies, textile and defense industry, agriculture, environment protection, infrastructure and many others. I hope that we will closely cooperate for a successful implementation of the important projects, about which we have reached agreement.

As a result of our meeting, I once again became convinced that our countries are indeed strategic partners, striving for a common prosperity through mutually beneficial cooperation.

Mr. President, I was deeply impressed by your opinion on international and regional situation, as well as your attention to the Korean diaspora.

Also, I would like to express my deep gratitude to You, Mr. President, having had extended a warm hospitality, personally meet me at the airport in Tashkent, did accompanied me to Samarkand. I became confident that the experience of the ancient Silk Road depicted on a mural at the Museum of “Afrasiab” with images of envoys from Goguryeo era, may again get transformed into a single Eurasia today.

Please allow me once again to thank You, Mr. President, for your sincere interest and support of cooperation and friendly relations between the two countries. I wish You a sound health and eternal prosperity to the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Park Geun-hye

President of the Republic of Korea

(Source: UzA)

history

People inhabited Uzbekistan’s territory as long ago as the Stone Age

In August 2013, the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan and the Museum of the University of Tokyo entered into an agreement on cooperation in the study of the archaeological sites of the Stone Age.  

Otabek Orifjonov, Deputy Director for Science of the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan, says, “International expedition studied mountains of Yakkabogh District of Qashqadaryo Region and Nurota District of Navoi Region in the Autumn of 2013 and in the Spring of 2014. Archaeologists set themselves a task of discovering unusual artifacts of the Stone Age. Their presence is the proof of the fact that people had inhabited Uzbekistan in the Stone Age, made instruments of labor and hunting that required certain know-hows.”

The expedition went along the water gap of Ternisoy river, then along the southern slopes of the Qoratupe Mountains, which are the main dividing range of the Qashqadaryo and Zarafshon valleys, studied valley of the Aiyqchisoy river, where Angilak and Qorakamar grottoes locaed.

According to a control probing of Angilak grotto, cultural layers contain homogenous lithic industry that both in technology of splitting and in category of instruments, is a part of the large group of sites in Uzbekistan, which was united into the Obirahmat cultury by scientists. Archaeologists discovered about dozens of artifacts. All of them are made of quartz and quartz rock. Unique flinty makes carved on the prismatic plate and on the section of the flake, which is more like Mousterian sharp end dating back to the 100-40 thousand years BCE. Two flakes are made of a solid deep-brown rock. One of them, restored, resembles an asymmetric sharp end with cut base. As judged by the finds, a small group of primitive people found a temporary shelter in the Angilak grotto; they actually hunted in the basin of Ayiqchisoy and its locations.

Some very rare traces were left by them in the Qorakamar grotto as well. In Nurota District of Navoi Region the expedition studied several caves and searched an open-air early man site dating back to Paleolithic Age in Pashat spring 12 to 4km off the Nurota District’s Center. Findings show that primitive people lived here during the Middle or even the Late Paleolithic.

In coming year, we plan to lay additional control pits in Pashat site.

(Source: “Uzbekistan Today” newspaper)

tourism

Tourism: an essential component of the national economy

At present, tourism is one of the leading sectors of the world economy, with its share of global trade in services being in excess of 30 per cent. The tourist product is leading in the world marketplace on a par with oil.

Each year, the volume of investment in a given industry grows by about 35 per cent. Tourism is now one of the most profitable lines of business, accounting for up to 7 per cent of world capital, according to www.wikipedia.org. A rapid solidification of tourism’s financial-economic positions worldwide has resulted in the following phenomenon: in many countries, the sector proves a material factor of regional development, making it possible not only to exploit the entire complex of recreational resources, but also to use, in the most efficient manner, the aggregate industrial and socio-cultural potentialities of one or another region, while preserving its ecological and cultural diversity.

That is why at the dawn of independence the Republic of Uzbekistan has identified the development of the tourist industry as one of priority directions of national economic policy. It should be observed that special attention was devoted to the creation of a corresponding legal framework. In particular, a big step was made towards the development of national tourism with the passage on August 20, 1999 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan, “On tourism”.

Thanks to the comprehensive economic policy successfully implemented by the Uzbek leaders, the country has become steady enough not only to withstand several grave after-effects of the global financial-economic crisis, but also to guarantee, alongside a handful of states across the globe, a stable pace of economic growth, including in the field of tourism.

It is necessary to highlight a number of factors facilitating the improvement of Uzbekistan’s attractiveness as a tourist destination of choice. These include: a great variety of favorable natural and climatic conditions, hospitality of Uzbek people as well as the nation’s rich and unique historical-cultural and architectural heritage. It goes without saying that such a diversity of flora and fauna, originality of landscape, a combination of natural zones, ethnic-cultural rituals, songs, dances and national cuisine can be found only in a modicum of the planet’s corners.

The temperate climate and availability of water resources make the Uzbek soil extremely fertile. Moreover, mild winters lure an enormous number of mountain-skiers to the Chimgan mountains located in Tashkent province. The Tyan-Shan and Pamir mountain systems give way to green oases covered by a net of irrigation canals watering cotton fields, blooming orchards and luscious vineyards. Green plains are encircled with mountain ranges with gleaming peaks. Lots of streams and rivers flowing down their slopes form the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya, the biggest rivers in the Central Asian region.

The Kyzylkum Desert is home to many rare species of animals, including insects, rodents, birds, reptiles etc. The fauna in the Kyzylkum Nature Reserve, based in the Amu Darya tugai forests, is astonishingly diverse and impressive. The plant life in the tugai valleys is wholly unlike the vegetation elsewhere. The Djeiran Eco-Center, 40 kilometers off the town of Bukhara, attracts interest from far afield as a place, where rare and endangered animal species are restored.

Several yurta camps are situated on the picturesque banks of Lake Aidarkul, which abounds in fish. Traditionally, all reservoirs of a given water system are excellent places for amateur fishing. In addition, tourists are offered an opportunity to go camel-riding. Other romantic entertainments are available, which give an idea of different aspects of nomadic life.

In summer, mountain tourism in Uzbekistan offers a wide range of tourist products: bicycle tracks, walking tours, trips, tracking, rafting, hiking, horse-riding tours, having a rest in fashionable mountain health-resorts etc. In winter, the popularity of heli-ski (the delivery of skiers to mountain peaks by helicopters), snow-boarding (descent from snow-covered slopes and mountains using a snowboard) and para-gliding (a flight on an engineless piloting aircraft with an immovable wing) is very high.

The Uzbek people’s hospitality is really the talk of the town. It is not just a tradition, rather it is a moral imperative that originated in extreme antiquity. Residents of the Republic always welcome their guests with special cordiality and warmth. Since olden days, Uzbekistan was viewed as a bridge between different countries and peoples, a crossroads of ancient caravan routes, a point where languages, cultures and civilizations met and mixed. The Great Silk Road, which united China, India, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, countries of the Near East and the Mediterranean, ran across this region.

Uzbekistan is renowned for its greatest cities, where hundreds of unique ancient architectural and historical monuments have survived down to the present day. Created in different epochs, the monuments testify to the Uzbeks’ rich material culture of the past. Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent, Shakhrisabz, Khiva, Termez and Kokand are all ancient cities, whose history numbers many centuries. Among their inhabitants were outstanding thinkers and poets, brilliant philosophers and scholars, and highly skilled craftsmen, who contributed enormously to the ancient Orient’s overall significance for the world culture.

In ancient times, these cities were part of big state structures, as well as the essential centers of buoyant caravan commerce along the Great Silk Road. More than 4,000 architectural and archeological monuments scattered throughout the country are now protected by UNESCO, with four of them being granted the organization’s World Heritage Site status.

The Uzbek government is exerting every effort to further develop the tourist industry’s infrastructure. In the last few years, a number of comfortable hotels have been erected in big cities nationwide. As for the existing ones, they have been restored in accordance with international standards. More and more modern restaurants, cafes and recreational facilities emerge in the Republic’s provinces. Up-to-date means of transport, ranging from automobiles to tourist buses, are at tourists’ service.

Any progress in the sector, however, is hardly possible without the availability of corresponding personnel and financial management. The multifaceted specificity of the tourist industry requires skilled specialists. That is why one of the main challenges faced by the Republic’s tourism remains the development and improvement of the multilayer system of continuous professional education in a given field, which can enable Uzbekistan to be highly competitive in the world tourist marketplace.

Today, several institutes of higher education and specialized secondary educational establishments in the country prepare specialists for the tourist sector. These include: the Tashkent State University of Economics, the Samarkand Institute of Economics and Service, as well as vocational tourist colleges situated in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. What’s more, the Republican Scientific-Educational Consulting Center of the Uzbektourism National Company runs refresher and upgrade training courses designed to raise the level of professional skills in tourism-related specialists.

Undoubtedly, all the steps taken to develop tourist infrastructure in Uzbekistan bear fruit. In 2013, the total number of foreign and local tourists has exceeded 1.3 million, according to information revealed by Uzbektourism. For the time being, as many as 962 tour organizations carry out their activity in the Republic, including 531 tour operators and 431 hotels (the data are provided by Uzbektouirsm).

Special attention is also devoted to the creation of an environment subservient not only to the expansion of cooperation with foreign partners, but also to the development of local tourism. A number of marketing projects – mega-info-tours – are organized to promote the nation’s tourist potential and to boost Uzbektourism’s tourist flows. Close linkages have been forged with many tourist companies from countries such as Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, France, China, Japan and others.

The 98th Session of the UNWTO Executive Council, held in the town of Santiago-de-Komposteda (Spain) on 4-6 June of the current year, approved a proposal advanced by the government of Uzbekistan to convene the organization’s next session, together with an international conference on tourism on the Great Silk Road, in the Uzbek town of Samarkand. This fact is another striking endorsement of the international recognition of the measures taken by the Republic in the field of tourism.

Annually, Uzbekistan hosts the Tashkent International Tourist Fair (TIFT). Last year, tourist companies from 40 countries presented more than 145 stands at the TIFT “Tourism on the Silk Road-2013”. 65 of them demonstrated the successes achieved in the tourism sector by foreign companies from the CIS member states, France, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Singapore, Egypt, Israel, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Spain, Thailand, Italy, China, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Russia, Turkey etc.

Significant measures are taken by the Uzbek government to develop tourist infrastructural facilities in provinces. In particular, the Presidential Resolution No ПП-1940 as of March 20, 2013 and the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No ПКМ-259 as of September 20, 2013 and No ПКМ-294 as of November 1, 2013 approved the Programs of Tourism Development in Khorezm, Tashkent and Kashkadarya provinces in the period 2013-2015. These documents stipulate the implementation of large-scale projects aimed at speeding up the pace, at which tourist infrastructure is developed in the regions of Uzbekistan.

In addition, work is under way to promote the country’s tourist potential, including the dissemination of information that highlights the activity of tourist agencies and centers, rest zones, holiday hotels, sanatoria, health-resorts, health centers, sporting-sanitary, recreational and eco-tourism organizations operating in Uzbekistan. In the last few years hundreds of tourist tours were created countrywide, with thousands of cultural and architectural monuments and unique natural places being restored.

In a word, the development of the national tourist industry keeps pace with the times. At the same time, it should be pointed out that the available potentialities allow Uzbekistan to raise the tourist industry to a qualitatively new level. The sector’s further growth will, without doubt, affect the Republic’s economic life as a whole, since tourism boosts the development of other industries, such as construction, trade, agriculture, production of consumer goods and communications.

(Source: “Business Partner.uz” newspaper)