World Bank Vice President to visit Uzbekistan

The delegation of Uzbekistan consisting of Deputy Prime Minister Tanzila Narbayeva, Minister of Employment and Labor Relations Sherzod Kudbiyev and Chairman of the Uztextileprom Association Ilhom Haydarov met with Vice President of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia Cyril Muller on February 4.

During the meeting, issues of bilateral cooperation, in particular, within the framework of the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) being implemented jointly with the International Labor Organization (ILO), were discussed. In this context, the Vice President of the WB highly appreciated the results of the ILO Director General’s visit to Uzbekistan, which testified to the significant progress achieved in Uzbekistan in the field of the protection of workers’ rights.

“I cannot fail to note the incredible success that has been achieved in the past two years. Frankly speaking, none of the outside observers, even those who are a partner of Uzbekistan in a number of areas, did not expect such amazing results as in the issue of child and forced labor, and in general in the development of civil society,” said Cyril Muller.

The WB Vice President especially noted the two fundamental achievements of Uzbekistan in this area: a steady decline in the number of forced labor cases and the introduction of effective mechanisms for monitoring, feedback and response.

As emphasized, “public consciousness has reached a level at which not only child labor, but also forced labor is perceived as a morally unacceptable phenomenon.”

Cyril Muller paid particular attention to the possibility of further cooperation in three main areas. The first is the continuation of the tripartite cooperation between Uzbekistan, the World Bank and the ILO. The second is the promotion of employment and the creation of favorable working conditions. The third is the implementation of projects related to gender equality, infrastructure development, increasing energy efficiency, modernizing agriculture and ensuring food security, as well as increasing the country’s trade and export potential.

The World Bank Vice President intends to visit Uzbekistan in March of this year to discuss the most promising projects that the bank could participate in financing.