The Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov and the President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Bandar Hajjar discussed the issues of cooperation on effective protection of the population during the spread of coronavirus, strengthening the capacity of the health system of Uzbekistan to diagnose and treat the infected people in time, and mitigating the effects of the global pandemic on socio-economic development.
Hajjar said that IDB is ready to provide comprehensive support to Uzbekistan, using the “Strategic Readiness and Response Package” (the total size is $2.3 billion), which was created to assist the member countries of the bank in the context of a global pandemic, the MIFT press service said.
He noted that IDB allocated $17 million from the current loan portfolio of the bank in Uzbekistan to finance urgent purchases of medical equipment and products for new clinics that were built to counter the threat of coronavirus.
Hajjar said that they are ready to provide additional support to Uzbekistan through the redirection of $46 million IDB savings for infrastructure projects to equip new clinics for patients infected with the coronavirus.
The IDB President assured that the bank is ready to expand assistance in this direction, also using its subsidiary institutions, such as the International Islamic Trade and Finance Corporation, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, and others.
Following the videoconference, the parties agreed to organize additional financing ($140 million) from IDB for the needs of the healthcare system and support for small and medium-sized enterprises in Uzbekistan.
