On January 26, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a videoconference to discuss the New Uzbekistan Development Strategy for 2022-2026 and its implementation this year.

Uzbekistan’s 35 million multinational people live with the great goal of achieving a standard of living corresponding to developed countries, building a just, free and prosperous society. Therefore, during the Presidential Elections last year, Shavkat Mirziyoyev put forward the ideas “In the name of human honor and dignity” and “The state for the people”. The Development Strategy for 2022-2026 has been developed to implement them based on the opinions and proposals of the population.

This policy document determines what will be the development trends of Uzbekistan in the near and medium-term, sets priorities in this direction. The main attention was paid to ensuring the continuity of reforms based on the principle “From the Action Strategy to the Development Strategy”.

A draft state program “Year of Ensuring Human Interests and Mahalla Development” was also developed based on the provisions of the new strategy. Over 17 thousand proposals were received from the public during the open discussion of this project. They were classified and summarized, the draft program was supplemented with more than 300 initiatives.

The Head of the state thanked the country’s people for such activity, trust and participation in reforms.

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“The concept of human honor and dignity is not some kind of abstract, pompous concept for us. When we talk about this, we mean, first of all, ensuring peaceful and secure life for every citizen, his fundamental rights and freedoms. By human dignity, we mean the creation of decent living conditions and modern infrastructure for every citizen, access to qualified medical care, quality education, social protection, and a healthy ecological environment. To achieve this goal, we have set ourselves the task of effectively using the capabilities of the mahalla institution, which is a unique democratic structure in the world, further expanding its powers to eventually turn the mahalla into a decisive link in our society. If peace reigns in the mahalla, it will be peaceful in the country. If the mahalla is well-maintained, then the whole country will be well-maintained”, the President said.

The Development Strategy consists of 7 priority areas and 100 goals:

I. Building a people’s state by ensuring human interests and further developing a free civil society;

II. Transformation of the principles of justice and the rule of law into the main and necessary condition for the country’s development;

III. Development of the national economy, ensuring high rates of its growth;

IV. Implementation of fair social policy, development of human capital.

V. Ensuring spiritual development, bringing this sphere to a new stage;

VI. Approach to universal problems based on national interests;

VII. Strengthening the country’s security and defense capability, maintaining an open, pragmatic and active foreign policy.

398 measures are planned to be executed this year according to the State Program for the implementation of the Development Strategy. 55 trillion soums and 11.7 billion dollars will be allocated for their implementation.

The President of Uzbekistan emphasized that all efforts and allocated funds should reach each mahalla and serve to improve the well-being of families.

The President focused on each of the seven priorities and outlined the most important aspects.

The need was noted for turning the mahalla into a supporting link in public administration and control, improving the system of dialogue with people, and implementing regional programs taking into account public opinion.

It was noted that by further expanding the opportunities for women to receive education and work, unemployment among them can be halved.

Speaking about the second direction, the Head of the state noted that one of the main tasks is to become one of the countries with a high rule of law index. To this end, a new system will be created to guarantee the rights of citizens and entrepreneurs through the reliable protection of property and the expansion of the powers of administrative courts.

Traffic management will be fully digitalized to create safer conditions on the roads, a sharp reduction in road traffic accidents and deaths. Control and accountability in driver education will be strengthened.

The Head of the state noted the importance of the accelerated development of the national economy.

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“It’s no secret that preserving peace and stability in society, strengthening our independence, ensuring the territorial integrity of our country, the inviolability of our borders is the most important task. Only a stable economy will solve social problems”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

Therefore, the strategy outlines several measures for the comprehensive and advanced development of economic sectors, the creation of modern jobs and the reduction of poverty.

In particular, the goal has been set to increase the gross domestic product to $100 billion over the next five years. It is planned to increase industrial production by 1.4 times and reduce poverty by at least 2 times.

Through the development of science and innovation, the introduction of market mechanisms in agriculture, it is possible to double the income of farmers and bring annual growth in the agricultural sector to at least 5 percent.

It is also planned to attract $120 billion to the economy, including $70 billion of foreign investment over the next five years, and increase annual exports to $30 billion.

“The most difficult thing is to carry out these large-scale tasks in the context of the ongoing pandemic and the global crisis. This requires great strength and resources from us, strong will and strict discipline, full mobilization of all possibilities”, the Head of the state said.

The main tasks in the social sphere were also identified. In particular, in the next five years, an additional 1.2 million student places will be created in schools, and textbooks will be updated. By increasing the number of public and private kindergartens, coverage of preschool education will reach 80 percent.

The inclusion of higher education institutions in prestigious international rankings and the construction of student dormitories for 100,000 people based on private partnership are also important tasks.

The need was noted for improving the quality, strengthening the material and technical base of primary healthcare, the widespread introduction of digital medicine. It is planned to increase budget allocations for medicines and medical supplies by 3 times.

During the discussion of measures in spirituality, the importance of the effective use of the capabilities of more than 12 thousand libraries, the joint struggle against ideological threats based on the national idea was noted.

Tasks were set to increase the number of people who regularly go in for physical culture and sports up to 33 percent, to further develop the Olympic and Paralympic movement.

The main attention was paid to the issues of ecology and environmental protection, the implementation of the national project “Yashil Makon”.

Instructions were given on the systematic organization of labor migration, teaching citizens foreign languages ​​and professions, and enhancing relations with compatriots abroad.

Another important direction of the Development Strategy is strengthening the security and defense potential of our Motherland, pursuing an open and pragmatic, proactive foreign policy.

To this end, the Security Concept of New Uzbekistan will be adopted. A system will be created to prevent information technology attacks and ensure cybersecurity. The emergency management system will be improved. An instruction was given to develop new mechanisms for monitoring internal and external financial flows and preventing the risks associated with them.

The President put forward a demand to carefully study the documents regarding the Development Strategy and the tasks set at the meeting, to regularly report to the general public on their implementation.

“People should feel all the changes, the practical implementation of programs in their daily lives. This is the main goal”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

The Cabinet of Ministers was given instructions on organizing the execution and control over the implementation of the Development Strategy and the State Program for the current year. Hokimiyats were instructed to bring regional programs under the specified documents and conduct their public discussion.

“We will carry out all reforms, all measures together with the society. We all must unite and make every effort to serve our people”, the President said.

The Prime Minister and his deputies, ministers, hokims and public representatives delivered speeches on the issues discussed at the meeting.

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