The meeting between Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Shinichi Kitaoka. Photo from the Press Office of the President of Uzbekistan
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will make funds of $3.5 billion available to Uzbekistan for the development of industry and agriculture in the country. The agreement was concluded at a meeting in Tokyo between Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the head of JICA Shinichi Kitaoka, the press office of the Uzbek head of state reports.
The agreed upon funds will be a supplement to the $4 billion portfolio of existing joint projects. In addition to the modernisation of industrial enterprises and agriculture, the funds will be allocated to projects in the spheres of energy, infrastructure, the environment, healthcare and other branches.
Special attention has been directed towards supporting the work of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as the expansion of existing educational exchange programmes. In order to ensure that each project is completed on time and to a high degree of quality, the two sides agreed to draw up a road map for their joint action.
Collaboration between JICA and Uzbekistan began in 1993 with the dispatch of economic development experts to conduct training courses in the country. In 1999 the agency opened an office in Tashkent, which in 2003 became one of JICA’s 30 most important overseas bureaus.
Over the years, the Japanese agency has carried out projects to extend telecommunications networks in Uzbekistan, renovate the airports in Samarkand, Bukhara and Urgench, modernise rail transport in the country and enlarge the power station at Talimarjan. Projects currently underway include the electrification of the Karshi-Termez rail line, the modernisation of the Navoi Thermal Power Station, the construction of the thermal power station at Turakurgan, and the rehabilitation of the Amu Bukhara Irrigation System, among others.
