President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov received General Joseph Votel, the Commander of the US Central Command, at the Oqsaroy on 14 June

Greeting the guest, who has arrived in our country for the first time in his new position, the President congratulated him with the high and responsible appointment and wished successes in his work.

As was underlined during the talks, a constructive nature of the existing Uzbek-American relations is based on, primarily, mutual interest, including in strengthening security and stability. Regular bilateral exchanges and consultations on different levels allow consistently develop mutually beneficial cooperation, extending its agenda.

Some international and regional issues, including the processes of peaceful settlement of the situation in Afghanistan were discussed at the meeting.

General Joseph Votel expressed gratitude to President Islam Karimov for a warm reception and the possibility to discuss in detail topical issues for both parties and underlined the interest of the US Government in further developing multi-faceted relations between our countries.

(Source: UzA)

economy

Gardens of New Generation

Innovative approaches to growing crops have been gaining traction in Uzbekistan. Intensive gardening is the most popular technology.

“Samarkand farmers were among the first to try benefits of intensive gardening in the climatic conditions of our country. Intensive gardens were planted with imported seedlings in Narpay and Samarkand districts on 500 hectares in 2008. The gardens were laid on dry land with drip irrigation technology. Saplings bore fruits in the second year, and the harvest exceeded the yield of conventional gardens by several times, which aroused great interest in farmers. As a result, other districts started laying gardens in subsequent years,” said senior specialist of the Samarkand Regional Administration for Agriculture and Water Resources Maksud Koraboev.

Last year, the new technology of growing fruit trees was applied on nearly 2,000 hectares. The total area of intensive orchards in the region is currently 9,079 hectares. Almost 110 farms have laid new gardens. Most of them grow 20 kinds of high-yielding fruit trees. In 2015, their total harvest exceeded 100,000 tons, and the number scales up annually. The bulk of the crop is stored in farm refrigerators and exported. Farms have signed contracts with processing enterprises of the region.

It is worth to note that farmers have established the cultivation of seedlings along with the development of intensive gardening. Previously imported saplings are now grown at Samarkand Scientific Research Station of the Academician Mirzayev Research Institute of Horticulture, Viticulture and Winemaking, and at the Oqdaryo Mushtariy company. Dwarf and semi-dwarf plants are delivered to farms in other regions of the country. Experts advise farmers on how to grow and care for seedlings. Another seedling farm is currently being established in Samarkand district to provide farmers with saplings in 2017, and export them.

The bulk of intensive orchards – 3,200 hectares - grow in Jomboy district, which specializes in gardening and horticulture. More than 20 diversified local farms have been engaged in this kind of farming.

The Marokand Meva-Sabzavot farm ranks among them. Founded in 2012, the farm laid intensive gardens on 2,020 hectares.

“There are 16 kinds of apple trees, 7 – black cherry, 10 - cherry, 8 - peach, 5 - quince, 6 - apricot and almonds trees in our gardens,” says fruit and vegetable expert of Jomboy district Administration for Agriculture and Water Resources Bakhtiyor Karimov. “The modern equipment we imported from Holland processes aisles in the gardens, and regularly combats pests. We established a drip irrigation system. Water from artesian wells is collected in special tanks, purified and supplied in the gardens through plastic pipes.”

Today, farmers are well aware of economic viability of intensive gardens. In conventional gardens, trees start bearing fruit in 5-6 years, while intensive gardens bear fruits on the second year. Previously, a one hectare garden required 1,000 cubic meters of water, while the new type of gardens with drip irrigation require only 70 cubic meters. Yields from one hectare of conventional gardens are 10-12 tons, but intensive technologies allow bring this number up to 55-80 tons. Today, the two-year apple trees in the farm gardens bear abundant harvests. The gardens are covered with a special grid for the protection of fruit trees, and creation of a microclimate. It also contributes to the quality of yield. 80% of products are exported fresh, and the rest are exported after processing in the form of juices and jams.

Later on, it is planned to cultivate another 1,000 hectares of land in the area, build processing and packaging plants, and create 1,000 jobs.

“We laid an intensive apple orchard on 60 hectares in 2012,” says the manager of the Galaosiyo Non company of the district Zafar Tohirov. “We expanded its area next year by more than 180 hectares, planting peach, plum, pear and other fruit trees. We purchased seedlings from regional farms, and received an expert advice on planting and care for trees. Then we developed drip irrigation on the basis of foreign technologies. In 2015, the harvest was 900 tons, the bulk of which we have preserved in our own cold storage.”

These days, gardeners are actively caring for fruit trees. They have teamed up with the specialists of Bejo-Zaden (Holland), and Helios-1 (Ukraine) companies to exchange experience on intensive cultivation of vegetables. The Marokand Meva-Sabzavot farm is growing several intensive varieties of tomatoes on 350 hectares. Experts anticipate more than 100 tons of the crop per hectare.

(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

Society

Peers of Independence

In 1991, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan was set up. Today, the association brings together 207 regional branches, with more than 41,000 principal organizations. One of the major areas of its activity is international cooperation.

Within the framework of its competences, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan has been working on the development of bilateral and multilateral international cooperation in political and legal areas. How effective it has been is evaluated by Dilbar Alimjanova responsible for international cooperation.

“How wide is the range of issues that your direction is busy with?

“The main purpose of the committee is to provide comprehensive support, protection of rights and legal interests of women. To ensure the effectiveness of women’s public organizations of the country created to improve the social, socio-political and labor activity of women, the level of their legal and economic knowledge, international activities of the committee includes interaction with international institutions and foreign nongovernmental organizations.

In recent years, our ties are actively growing and developing. The partnership network now includes more than 10 organizations, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Uzbekistan, UN-Women, the Asian Development Bank, the Foundation of German Savings Banks, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the European Union Programs of Institutional Development and Partnership.

“What kind of specific projects are under consideration?”

“For example, cooperation with the Foundation of German Savings Banks is carried out in accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers resolution of 11 July 2014. The document laid basis to implement the project “Support for the financial sector of the Republic of Uzbekistan” during 2014-2016. Within its framework, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan performs a partnership commitment in the field of information and advice. The main objective of the project is the development of entrepreneurship among women and young people, especially those living in rural areas, their active involvement in the economic sphere. During 2015 alone, in 13 regional information and advisory groups, more than 2,500 women received counseling on financial services rendered in the country, information about the conditions created for business development. 102 seminars were organized aimed at raising the financial awareness of representatives of small business and private entrepreneurship. In order to improve financial literacy 159 seminars were organized across the country’s colleges and lyceums on the theme “The first independent steps of graduates” with the participation of about 4 thousand students.

In December last year, a joint project, “Promoting preschool education of children”, was completed with UNICEF, which was implemented in the framework of the State program “Year of healthy child”. Its goal is to improve the conditions in preschool educational institutions through the active involvement of regional and mahalla committees, women consultants in the process of raising awareness among parents about the importance of preschool education. Speaking about the results, 820 consultants of mahallas increased their knowledge, which will contribute to the successful involvement of children, especially girls, in short-stay groups organized in the framework of a joint project of UNICEF and the Ministry of Public Education of Uzbekistan.

In order to expand economic opportunities for women and young people, a 22-month project “New social assistance programs to enhance income opportunities for vulnerable families” was completed in 2015 in collaboration with the agency Formaper (Italy) in the framework of programs of institutional development and partnerships, funded by the European Union. The scheme produced a group of local consultants and coaches to provide information, advice and practical support for the population in the development of small and private business: elaboration of business plans, state registration of business entities, registration of documents for microcredits.

645 women and girls have received necessary knowledge to participate actively in the socio-economic life, 137 of them started their business by being granted preferential loans.

The country program of cooperation between the Government of Uzbekistan and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) implemented two educational programs. On the first, eight trainings for 161 consultants of citizens’ assemblies were conducted in four regions (Samarkand, Surkhandarya, Tashkent region and Tashkent city). The purpose of the training is to raise the level of legal knowledge and medical culture, the study of international conventions and laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the sphere of social protection of motherhood and childhood, reproductive health and women’s rights to full family support and improve medical culture of the population. On the second track, 28 trainings conducted all regions of the country for law enforcement officers on the topic “Creating a healthy social and spiritual atmosphere in the family by introducing into practice the norms and principles of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women”. In total, 689 people took part in them, of which 347 were decision-makers, 342 were employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“Do you work with international organizations only, or are there any foreign embassies among your partners?”

“Embassies are willing to cooperate with us. For example, the UK diplomatic mission in conjunction with the Women’s Committee of Chust district in Namangan region has organized a joint business forum titled “Women and Business”. It was attended by experienced entrepreneurs and experts invited by the British side. They held workshops for rural women on floristry as well as modern methods of designer processing and sewing garments of national fabrics. In addition, the experts conducted sessions on improving entrepreneurial literacy and business planning.

“For your organization, the year 2016 marks a milestone. Are you planning any special events on the occasion?”

At present, the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan is in talks on the conclusion of two-year joint plans with UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women.

In February this year, with financial support from ADB, we held a workshop on the development of financing of female entrepreneurship under the State Program "Year of Healthy Mother and Child." It was attended by representatives of the Committee of Women of Uzbekistan, Business Women’s Association, and the Chamber of Commerce from all regions.

(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

GREEN TECHNOLOGIES

Tashkent hosts II national conference on wind energy potential development

Uzbekistan attaches great importance to the development of renewable energy sources. The country is implementing a number of projects on introduction of renewable energy sources and their diversification, developing the regulatory framework. These and many other issues were in the center of attention at the Second national conference on the development of the wind energy potential of Uzbekistan.

The conference saw heads and specialists of the Ministry of economy, finance, foreign economic relations, investments and trade, JSC "Uzbekenergo", the Fund for reconstruction and development, the State Committee for nature protection, Center of hydrometeorological service under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, TSTU, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, representatives of international organizations and development institutions, representatives of General Electric and Siemens, as well as the delegation of the Embassy of the French Republic, etc.

The conference was another important step in harnessing the potential of renewable energy sources of Uzbekistan. This work was performed at UE “Talimarjan TPP” by JSC “Uzbekenergo” and Intec-GOPA and GEONET (Germany) in the framework of the project “Construction of the overhead line 500 kV Talimarjan TPP - substation Sogdiana with outdoor switchgear 500 kV at Talimarjan TPP” with the support of the International Bank for reconstruction and development (World Bank).

The previous conference presented the Wind Atlas - an interactive information-analytical system of wind energy potential (WEP) of Uzbekistan, developed using computer simulation and assessment of wind energy resources of the Republic, which according to analysis account for more than 520 000 MW of installed capacity and more than a billion MWh of electricity per year.

On the basis of the developed Atlas of JSC “Uzbekenergo”, there were two prospective areas identified in the Navoi region and southern Karakalpakstan (zones of intensive industrial development) to conduct further detailed studies to clarify the WEP of these sites. Both sites have considerable potential, quality long-term wind conditions and good infrastructure.

Each of the sites has meteorological mast installed with a height of 85 meters each with devices for determining the speed and direction of wind, density and temperature. Via the satellite system, these devices transmitted information to a server online for further analysis, which later was used to determine the optimal capacity of wind power generators and calculate the potential power generation during the preparation of the feasibility study of the investment project. Following the studies, a model turbine with a generator with a unit capacity of 3 MW, a rotor diameter of 100 meters and a height of the cradle 100 meters above the level of the land was chosen.

As a result, following 12 months period, following measurements were received when designing a wind Park with installed capacity of 102 MW (34 units with capacity of 3 MW each):

- On the territory of Nukus, the average annual power generation will amount to 326 million kWh;

- On the territory of “Zarafshan”, the average annual power generation will amount to 358 million kWh.

Both sites have significant potential for further expansion - “Nukus” up to 60 000 MW and Zarafshan up to 75,000 MW - under the condition of holding and expanding a program of detailed measurements. The preliminary results of the feasibility study confirmed the profitability of each of the potential projects.

This was not the first time when the participants of the conference emphasized the wind potential of the country, they sounded promising areas for use of wind energy.

- The result of our measurements and calculations shows that Uzbekistan has a great potential for wind energy development. In some countries, the wind is used not only for power generation but also for heating and cooling. This is true for Uzbekistan as well. In addition, special devices that are used for land irrigation can also be used using the wind energy, - the Director of the project company "Intec-GOPA” Martina Dabo (Germany) said.

In the framework of the conference, the participants acquainted with the modern trends of development of wind energy projects, equipment, and types of financing for such projects.

World leaders in the manufacture of wind turbines – General Electric, Siemens and Vestas shared their experience in implementation of wind energy projects on land and the latest technology in turbine construction.

Experts from the International Finance Corporation and the Global Fund for infrastructural development briefed the participants about the various schemes of project financing, including public-private partnerships and the production of electricity by independent suppliers, requirements for profitability of projects.

Representatives of the World Bank expressed support to the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and JSC "Uzbekenergo" in the development of wind energy and informed them that under the new Concept of cooperation for 2016-2020, the World Bank group has been allocating significant funds for projects in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Following the discussions, it was concluded that Uzbekistan possesses significant wind resources suitable for the development of commercially successful large-scale wind farms.

(Source: UzReport.uz)