Uzbek president orders to reduce growth of import
By Kamila Aliyeva
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has noted the necessity to strengthen the personal responsibility of managers of all levels for reducing imports and increasing exports.
The head of state, during a video-conference, drew attention to the fact that ministries allow unreasonable growth of imports, which leads to inefficient use of the currency resources, the country’s national news agency (UzA) reported on April 20.
“These funds could be directed at implementation of the most important projects for our country’s economy to further expand production and create new jobs,” Mirziyoyev said.
The president notified that those who allowed unreasonable increase in imports, particularly in case Uzbekistan manufactures similar products, will be subject to penalty.
The State Customs Committee was instructed to establish strict control over the compliance of the structure and the range of imports with the activity profile of importers, and the State Committee for Investments to provide a critical analysis of the validity of price parameters in contracts for imported equipment and technology, their tender documentation, and investment projects concluded on a turnkey basis.
Participants of the meeting also discussed the expansion of the localization of production of competitive import-substituting products.
During the video-conference, a special attention was paid to increasing the volume and range of exported goods and involving untapped reserves for additional exports, given the current state of the world market.
Uzbekistan intends to reduce imports by more than $ 1.1 billion in 2017 through reorientation of purchases in favor of localized goods and organization of production of new types of import-substituting products.
In 2010-2016, about 2,000 localization projects were realized in the country, due to which the accumulated annual effect of import substitution exceeded $7.5 billion.
Some 877 new enterprises were involved in export activities in 2016, the geography of foreign deliveries of domestic products has expanded to 60 new markets.
More than $16.6 billion was invested in Uzbek economy during 2016 which is 9.6 percent more than in 2015. The volume of disbursed foreign direct investments and loans increased by 11.3 percent and exceeded $3.7 billion.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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