The Innoweek event was about the development of Uzbekistan, with several speeches about building a prosperous, New Uzbekistan.
Highlighting the most important details, the following lines reflect both the strengthening of the central role at the international level and the catching up at the national level.
Uzbekistan is now becoming a centre of world politics, and this is widely recognised by the international community.
It has hosted summits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Organisation of Turkic States, as well as dozens of high-level international conferences, and has supported important initiatives. All this indicates that Uzbekistan's international influence is growing.
An important initiative is to be put forward in the framework of administrative reforms. There are currently 7 cities in Central Asia, with over one million inhabitants. Together with the capitals, other large cities are becoming "growth points" in the region. Among them are the cities of Samarkand and Namangan. Each has a population of one million. Both cities have a lot of creative work going on.
The city of Samarkand is becoming a world-famous metropolis, an international tourist and business centre. Namangan is also finding its place as a regional centre for industry, business, education and culture. It is proposed to transfer the cities of Samarkand and Namangan to the republic as separate administrative-territorial units.
This will be a new practical step in our policy to increase the number of "attractive centres" along with their capital Tashkent; it will increase per capita income and jobs; and it will be fair to give more attention to the development of districts in both regions.
Now the governors of these regions need to work not only with the big cities, but also to improve conditions in the districts.
Both urban development programmes are approved by the Council of Ministers and the Prime Minister is directly responsible for their implementation.
The second direction. Their aim is to build a New Uzbekistan based on the principle of a "social state". This should be enshrined in the constitution. The social state means, above all, equal opportunities for the realisation of human potential, the creation of conditions for a decent life, and the reduction of poverty. Therefore, the focus is above all on supporting education, which is New Uzbekistan's biggest investment.
From 2023, a complete reform of school education will be launched, based on international education programmes.
Next year, the resources for student concessional education loans will be doubled, and 1 700 billion forints will be allocated.
This year, 1.5 trillion has been earmarked for science and innovation. This is almost six times more than in 2017.
Scientists' salaries have also been increased by 4.5 times.
This has led to the creation of 18 new scientific disciplines, such as nanotechnology, biotechnology and digital geology.
Next year, €1.8 trillion will be earmarked for science and innovation.
In the construction sector, the volume of new residential housing construction will be increased to 90,000. In this context, the granting of mortgages on preferential terms, which started two years ago, will be continued. Next year, a new mortgage programme, "My First House", will be launched in the Tashkent region. The programme will focus on building housing for young families in need of housing on the most favourable terms.
Preserving our nature, keeping water, air and the environment clean should become a culture and a practical activity for the residents of every neighbourhood in the coming year. To change the current situation in a positive direction, we will step up our efforts to protect the ecology and the environment, particularly through our work on the national "Green Space" project.
Agricultural reforms will be pursued with determination. Work has begun on large land reparcelling and 100,000 hectares of arable land will be distributed to the population for farming this year. This has resulted in an additional 1.5 million tonnes of food being grown.
Overall, $1 billion will be earmarked in 2023 for projects that will create a high added value chain in the agricultural sector.
They need $25-30 billion in energy investments to sustainably develop their economy. This can only be achieved by attracting private investment.
Therefore, the industry has attracted USD 8 billion in direct investment over the last three years. In particular, last week the tender for the construction of 3 additional solar power plants with a capacity of 500 megawatts in Bukhara, Namangan and Horezm was completed. This was based on new laws passed by MPs and Senators.
Since the beginning of the year, 7 power plants with a capacity of 1.5 thousand megawatts have been launched.
Next year, 11 large projects with 4.5 thousand megawatts will be completed. Solar and wind power plants in the regions of Buhara, Jizzakh, Kashkadarya, Navoi, Samarkand, Fergana and Tashkent will generate an additional 14 billion kilowatts of electricity. This will increase the amount of electricity supplied to households by 50%.
For the sake of clarity, many economists are proposing a shift to a free market in the energy sector.
However, per capita income and social protection must be taken into account and reforms in this area must be implemented gradually and without haste.
The most important issue is the efficient use of energy resources.
Unfortunately, energy consumption is twice as high as in other countries. That is why the National Energy Efficiency Improvement Programme is being adopted. If your representatives and senators join forces in this work, there will certainly be a positive result.
At home, at work, in kindergartens, in schools and on the street, people must be taught to value and conserve energy. These issues must be reinforced in their laws. In parallel, the use of small-scale renewable energy sources will increase dramatically. For example, if Olmaliq, Bekobad Combine and other large companies install 1,000 megawatts of solar power for their own needs in the Tashkent region, they will generate 2.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. This will provide about 30 percent of the Tashkent region's electricity consumption and save 500 million cubic meters of gas.
Subsidies for the installation of solar panels in households will be doubled.
In 2023, their main goal will be to increase exports of finished products by a further $4 billion.
The "New Uzbekistan - a country of competitive products" programme launched this year is bearing fruit. Some 2000 entrepreneurs have entered the foreign market for the first time in a year.