On January 20, Laziz Kudratov, the Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, held discussions with Dr. Akihiko Tanaka, the President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

During the meeting, JICA's significant contribution to the dynamic development of the Uzbek-Japanese strategic partnership, as well as the Agency's steadfast commitment to the implementation of new projects in Uzbekistan, was highly appreciated.

With the support of JICA, projects amounting to $3.7 billion have been implemented in Uzbekistan across key sectors of the economy, including energy, education, agriculture, infrastructure, and healthcare.

Based on the Agency's successful experience in Uzbekistan, additional opportunities for financing projects in the areas of energy, healthcare, human capital development, and the establishment of new free economic zones in various regions of the country have been explored.

In addition, since 2022, JICA has been implementing the Private Sector Investment Financing (PSIF) program in Uzbekistan, which facilitates the financing of investment projects without requiring a state guarantee. An agreement has been established to develop a new portfolio of promising projects under this program.

The progress of implementing the program signed last year, which consists of 20 projects totaling $2.4 billion, was reviewed separately.

As a result of the meeting the ceremony of signing of “Exchange Notes” with the Government of Japan, credit agreement for the amount of 150 million dollars on the project of construction and equipment of the Republican Specialized Scientific and Practical Medical Center of Neurology and Stroke, Minutes of Cooperation between JICA and the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, providing for the implementation of projects in the fields of animal husbandry, energy, education and other areas took place.