09/04/2021 - 17:13 3885

On April 3 this year, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Jamshid Kuchkarov met with representatives of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) headed by the Director for Europe and Central Asia Vibke Schlömer.

The meeting was also attended by First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Ilkhom Norkulov, First Deputy Minister of Finance Omonullo Nasritdinkhodjaev, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Ilkhomjon Abdugafarov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Bobur Abdinazarov, Director of the Agency for State Assets Management Akmalkhon Ortikov, and also the chairman of the board of JSC "Uzkimyosanoat" Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov.

At the beginning of the meeting, the parties discussed in detail the progress of cooperation in transforming the banking sector of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In particular, the significant role of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in the process of privatization of JSCIB “Ipoteka Bank” was noted.

Also, Vibke Schlemer informed the participants about the areas of cooperation and the process of approving funding for the implementation of initiatives aimed at developing the commercial mortgage market in Uzbekistan.

The IFC also expressed interest in establishing cooperation in the field of digital microfinance, in particular through special consulting projects in this direction.

Another of the key issues of discussion was cooperation with the IFC in the implementation of PPP-based projects. In particular, with the support of the IFC, a tender was held on a project to create hemodialysis centers to serve more than 1000 patients in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the city of Tashkent and the Khorezm region. The winner of the tender was announced in December 2020.

In the energy sector, the IFC Board of Directors approved a project to finance the Navoi solar power plant. At the same time, in partnership with the IFC, projects are being implemented to build a steam-gas plant in the Syrdarya region and two photovoltaic power plants (PVPs) of the Scaling Solar 2 project in the Samarkand and Jizzakh regions with a total capacity of 400 MW. It is planned to launch the third project for the construction of solar photovoltaic stations based on PPP - Scaling Solar 3, within the framework of which it is planned to build three PVPs in Bukhara, Namangan and Khorezm regions with a total capacity of 500 MW.

It was noted that cooperation with the IFC has also been established in the development of the chemical sector in Uzbekistan, covering 8 key areas.

IFC management approved a program of cooperation with the government of Uzbekistan to transform the fertilizer sector and open it up for private sector participation. A team of design specialists has been formed, and it is also planned to attract external consultants.

In the end of the meeting, potential interesting areas for discussion were discussed at the spring meetings of the World Bank and IMF from April 5 to 11, 2021, where the main topics include "Green Transformation", digitalization, as well as the transformation of the banking and financial sectors.

 Information service

The ministry of Economic development and poverty reduction