On December 7 President Shavkat Mirzyoyev held a meeting on matters of utilizing additional opportunities of Navoi region, increasing employment and investments.
Navoi region is a region with great potential in terms of infrastructure, industry and natural resources. Over the past seven years, the region has attracted $8 billion of investments and implemented 6.5 thousand projects. This year 577 projects worth $2.2 billion will be finalized.
During the President’s last visit to the region, instructions were given to further develop the economy and search for new opportunities. The meeting considered proposals prepared in line with these instructions.
For example, there are plans to locate new industrial enterprises on pasture lands near the chemical technopark in the Karmana district. Due to the availability of infrastructure and raw materials, projects for the production of kaolin, quartz, silicon dioxide and textile dyes can be launched here as early as next year.
Chinese investors have expressed interest in quartz and granite mining and processing in Khatyrchi district. Eleven mineral deposits in Kanimekh, Navbahor and Uchkuduk districts are also prospective for development.
Recreation zones will be created on the territory around Lake Aydarkul with an area of 150 hectares, which will be able to receive up to 10 thousand tourists. This will create 200 new jobs. In the villages of Sentob, Langar and Angidon in Nurata and Khatyrchi districts 200 family guest houses will be organized, which will attract up to 600 thousand tourists a year and provide employment for 500 people.
There are 43 percent of all pasture lands of the country in Navoi region, but only 5 percent of them are used. To solve this problem, fodder, medicinal and spicy crops adapted to the local climate will be sown on an area of 350,000 hectares using drones. These lands will then be distributed to the population. Goat and sheep breeding will also be developed in Tamdy and Uchkuduk districts.
In addition, Tamdy and Nurata have conditions for specialization in the production of construction materials, livestock and tourism, and Khatyrchi district – in the textile industry and horticulture. A modern laboratory for certification of organic and non-GMO products is being established in Khatyrchi district. Intensive orchards and vineyards will also be established in this district on 500 hectares, and in Navbahor on 200 hectares.
It is planned to stimulate the cultivation of marketable products. For example, it is proposed to import sunflower seeds from Italy and plant them on 10,000 hectares as a secondary crop. This will provide additional income for 5,000 residents, and the oil produced will be enough to cover the annual needs of the region.
In the first 11 months of this year, 111 thousand people were employed in Navoi region. By 2025 it is planned to provide employment for 140 thousand people and lift 10 thousand families out of poverty.
At the meeting, the khokim of Navoi region presented plans to utilize the region’s reserves, attract investments worth $2 billion and increase exports to $320 million by 2025.
The President noted that these indicators do not correspond to the region’s potential and instructed to reconsider the plans.
The meeting emphasized the need to implement new projects mainly in Kanimekh, Nurata, Khatyrchi and Tamdy districts. The task has been set to organize training of the unemployed in modern professions and providing them with high-paid jobs both in Uzbekistan and abroad. It was emphasized that Navoi region, with its broad economic opportunities and relatively small population, has the potential to become an unemployment-free region.