Uzbek-Afghan-Pakistan railway line to integrate region economically: Mirziyoyev

TASHKENT: President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Thursday said that the laying of the Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan railway lines has been started, which will lead to economic integration in the region.

Addressing the ‘Third Tashkent International Investment Forum’, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said “We have started initial work on the construction of railways China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan with our foreign partners.” Mirziyoyev said these strategic projects “will fundamentally change the geo-economy of the region and will transform Central Asia into the global transit center that connects North and South, East and West.” “We invite investors and international organizations to participate in these major regional projects to revive the ‘Great Silk Road on modern foundations.” For the development of transport infrastructure, the Uzbekistan government pays special attention to creating convenient and modern transport systems, he said.

The president said that substantial reforms are being made in the railway sector opening wide opportunities for private investors and joint projects are being developed to build toll roads and high-speed railways.

He said that efforts are being made to modernize Tashkent, Bukhara and Urgench international airports, and build new ones with the participation of qualified foreign investors. Mirziyoyev said “By 2030, our goal is to double the people’s income and join the ranks of the upper-middle income countries, we will continue with deep transformation processes in the economy, creating favorable investment and business environments, and increasing value-added production in industry.”

It is important to emphasize that the investors gathered here today with their most innovative technologies and practices, new proposals and initiatives stimulate us to move forward. Mirziyoyev said in recent years, our economy has nearly doubled. In the past few years, we have attracted over $60 billion in foreign investments and more than $14 billion from international financial institutions have been directed to social and infrastructure projects, he said.

He said that a visa-free travel regime has been introduced for more than 90 countries. To strengthen the protection of investors’ rights, the government will adopt the new Law “On Investments.”

This document has been developed under the regulations and standards of the World Trade Organization. “We have adopted,’ Uzbekistan-2030’ strategy in order to continue systemic reforms, build strong and welfare state.”

Today are presenting joint projects to build hydroelectric power stations in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for our investors.

We invite the leading companies from all countries to open dialogue and practical cooperation in this direction. He said that Uzbekistan is rich in mineral resources and critical raw materials. The government aimed to increase this indicator to $5 billion in the future and the number of IT park residents will increase tenfold, 100,000 new jobs will be created soon.