Over $120 bln of foreign investments drawn in Uzbek economy so far
More than $120 billion of foreign investments were made in the Uzbek economy since independence. Over 50 percent came from foreign direct investments, Uzbek Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade Elyor Ganiev said at the sixth Tashkent International Investment Financial Forum on Thursday.
"The annual growth of foreign investments hits 20-25 percent," he said. "This stipulates a high level of attractiveness of the Uzbek economy and its possibilities."
He said that the total volume of attracted foreign investments hit more than $6 billion in 2012, of which about 80 percent falls to the share of foreign direct investments.
The minister said that large-scale structural institutional reforms have been conducted in Uzbekistan over the recent years. As a result, the republic entered a phase of economic growth first among the CIS countries. It restored the pre-reform level of gross domestic product by 2000.
The government's efforts are directed primarily at creating an effective and efficient institutional framework of a market economy, system reforming and liberalization of the economy, further modernization of industries, the development of trade and economic relations with various world countries.
The Uzbek economy has doubled in the past 12 years thanks to the consistent implementation of the Uzbek model of reforms.
A stable macro-economic stability and a balance of internal and external sectors were reached. This was reflected in such areas as balancing the state budget, which has been run with a surplus since 2005, the sustainability of external positions, characterized by stable positive balance of trade and balance of payments and the progressive rise in foreign exchange reserves.
The ongoing structural reforms create conditions for sustained high rates of Uzbek economic growth - more than 8 percent a year for the last seven years. The share of industry in the economy of the country has increased from 17 percent to 26 percent from 2000 to 2012. On average, the level of investments in the economy annually hits at least 20 percent of GDP, the share of small and private business in GDP exceeded 50 percent.
The population's cash income is increasing by 22-24 percent a year, stimulating domestic demand for various types of goods and services.
The high rates of economic growth, the ongoing development of industry, agriculture, the private sector are confirmed by independent experts, including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other reputable financial institutions. According to their forecasts, the high growth rates of the Uzbek economy will be preserved at the level of 7-8 percent annually for the next 5-10 years.
Uzbekistan's investment capacity is estimated at tens of millions of dollars annually, he added.