On July 13, the Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, Sardor Umurzakov, held talks with the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Masatsugu Asakawa, via videoconference.
The dialogue focused on ongoing cooperation as part of the measures to protect the population from the spread of coronavirus and to minimize the negative impact of the pandemic on the social and economic development of the country, the press service of the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade informed.
During the discussion, Asakawa expressed the bank’s commitment to further support Uzbekistan in priority areas. In particular, funding will be provided to combat the proliferation of coronavirus and to rehabilitate the destroyed infrastructure in the Syrdarya region.
The ADB President noted that preparations are underway for the approval of a new loan in the amount of $100 million for modernization and equipping of the healthcare system and sanitary-epidemiological service of Uzbekistan. It is expected that this loan will be approved in early August this year. It was also announced that co-financing in the amount of $100 million will be attracted for the implementation of this project, from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Separately, the parties discussed the current status of joint projects in the areas of agriculture, water resources management, health, education, energy, infrastructure and private sector development, as well as mechanisms to accelerate their implementation.
