On January 10, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a meeting to analyze ongoing work and define further tasks for the socio-economic development of the Republic of Karakalpakstan.
Special attention is paid to the development of Karakalpakstan’s economy and the improvement of the quality of life of its population. Unprecedented changes have taken place in the region over the past seven years. The republic, of which 12 out of 15 districts are subsidized, has begun to generate revenues for its budget. In particular, more than 5.3 thousand projects have been implemented with investments worth 15 trillion Uzbek soums. Plantations covering 1.8 million hectares have been created on the dried up bottom of the Aral Sea. The housing conditions of 51,000 families have been improved, and construction and repair work has been carried out in 401 makhallas. The population’s standard of living has risen.
Karakalpakstan offers privileges and business opportunities not available in any other region. In particular, to create an attractive business environment and favourable conditions for the region’s residents, profit, sales, land and property taxes have been halved, and the social tax rate has been set at 1%. As a result, 500 billion Uzbek soums per year will remain at the disposal of entrepreneurs.
To take this work to a new level, seven decrees and resolutions have been adopted over the past two years to develop industry, agriculture and entrepreneurship, and to improve the infrastructure of Karakalpakstan’s makhallas. To this end, $400 million and 250 billion Uzbek soums have been allocated.
Many projects are being implemented in the cities and districts of the Aral Sea region in cooperation with the business sector and the regions.
The meeting reviewed the work carried out in 2023 and discussed the tasks for 2024.
Today, the population of Karakalpakstan has exceeded 2 million people. Every year, 50 thousand citizens enter the labour market. The President drew attention to the need to train them in modern professions, provide them with jobs and decent conditions.
To this end, major work is planned for this year. In particular, it is planned to increase the volume of industrial production to 23 trillion Uzbek soums and to create capacities for the production of goods worth 2 trillion Uzbek soums. Twenty-four major projects worth 5 trillion Uzbek soums will be launched in the textile, electrical engineering, pharmaceutical and construction materials sectors.
In 2024, it is planned to attract $2 billion 100 million of foreign investment to the region. As a result, 206 projects will be implemented in industry, 240 in services, 34 in agriculture, and around 13,000 high-paying jobs will be created.
Karakalpakstan is experiencing positive dynamics in the development of production, agriculture, tourism and other services. The need to effectively use this opportunity and increase exports to $160 million has been identified.
Foreign grants will be used to increase agricultural yields. Water-saving technologies will be introduced on 6,000 hectares of land, and 31,000 hectares will be laser leveled.
Measures are planned to repair the infrastructure of makhallas and households. A total of 2.3 billion Uzbek soums will be allocated for the treatment of those in need of high-tech medical services.
In addition, 182 billion Uzbek soums will be allocated to projects based on citizens’ initiatives, and 40 billion Uzbek soums will be allocated from the local budget this year. 10 trillion Uzbek soums will be allocated to projects under programmes to support small and medium-sized enterprises.
The President stressed that plans to create new jobs in the region do not match the existing potential and outlined additional opportunities.
For instance, 149 hectares of vacant land are available in 51 industrial zones. On this basis, 71 projects worth 775 billion Uzbek soums can be launched, creating one thousand jobs. Or 10,000 hectares of vacant land can be put up for tender, attracting 20,000 entrepreneurs. That would create 50,000 new jobs. It is also possible to develop 85 non-metallic deposits and employ 10 thousand people through projects worth 7.5 trillion Uzbek soums.
The President noted that one of the great reserves in this regard is tourism. The task was set to work out a programme to develop tourism in Karakalpakstan, especially in the ecological, ethnographic and pilgrimage directions, to organize a tourist cluster and to attract foreign experts to the sector. The need to develop the Nukus airport and increase air traffic, build new hotels, modernize museums, and expand road services was emphasized.
The importance of attracting specialists from Germany, South Korea, Japan and Turkiye to train young people in 17 types of modern professions, such as foreign languages, IT, design, hotel services, was noted.
The responsible officials stated that there are all possibilities to make Karakalpakstan a region with zero unemployment and reported on the measures to be taken in this direction.