Unprecedented increase in the number of travelers coming to Uzbekistan; Privatization is planned in the electricity industry; South Korean Bomi Engineering & Construction to build a unique building for $ 50 million in Tashkent City; Parliament of Kazakhstan approved the agreement on the border with Uzbekistan; The State Committee on Tourism reported on the availability of loans for the construction of hotels;
Unprecedented increase in the number of travelers coming to Uzbekistan
The State Committee for Tourism Development has published statistics on the increase in tourist flow in January-August of this year. During this period, the number of tourists from the United States, Canada, and other countries of the Americas reached 9.9 thousand, an increase of 48% over the same period last year (6.6 thousand).
“From July 15 to August 30, US citizens ranked second after China in the number of issued electronic visas (962 people) on the E-visa system. Of these, 203 people are Canadian citizens. Uzbekistan and the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) signed a memorandum providing for cooperation in the field of popularization of the tourism brand of the republic in the United States “, – noted in the State Tourism Committee.
In addition, thanks to the measures taken, the number of Italian tourists increased by 47%, reaching 9.3 thousand people (with 6.3 thousand people in the same period of 2017). The number of citizens of Turkey, Albania, Iraq, South Africa, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus who visited Uzbekistan in total increased by 92%, reaching 47.2 thousand people (24.6 thousand).
Privatization is planned in the electricity industry
Private business will be allowed into the electricity sector of Uzbekistan, follows from the plan of practical measures to reform the industry, approved by a presidential decree. Already in December of this year, they will begin to form and approve a list of enterprises recommended for privatization and transfer to private hands on terms of a public-private partnership.
A technical and financial audit is planned for April 2019 to assess the status of enterprises in the list; by June 2019, together with international consultants, the government will prepare technical specifications for the development of tender documentation.
In September 2019, privatization competitions and transfer of facilities to private operators to trust management will be announced. Based on the results of the competition, the implementation of the projects themselves will begin.
South Korean Bomi Engineering & Construction to build a unique building for $ 50 million in Tashkent City
The ground works on Lot No. 6 of the MDTs Tashkent City will start at the beginning of the next year. Three largest banks of Uzbekistan – Aloqabank, AsakaBank and Uzpromstroybank, as well as the Bomi Engineering & Construction Co Ltd from the Republic of Korea are introducing direct investments in this development site.
The South Korean company plans to build one of the most high-tech office buildings in the capital, and therefore in Uzbekistan, in the territory of the IDC Tashkent City. A-class business center assumes the presence of guarded land and underground parking, round-the-clock video surveillance, noise insulation, and provision with smart technologies.
“We plan to invest in the construction of facilities on an ongoing basis, which will certainly affect the economic development of the country. And by the way, we do not plan to withdraw our profits from Uzbekistan, we will reinvest in local facilities,” said project manager Kang Xing Gu.
Parliament of Kazakhstan approved the agreement on the border with Uzbekistan
The deputies of the upper chamber of the Parliament of Kazakhstan at the plenary meeting approved the ratification of the treaty between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on the area of the tripoint of the three states.
The bill was considered and approved by the deputies of the Majilis (lower house) of the Kazakh parliament in mid-September.
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan determined the passage of the Turkmen-Uzbek state border from the junction point to border point No. 206, mentioned in the agreement on delimitation of the state border of September 21, 2000.
The bill will be sent for signature to President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan.
The State Committee on Tourism reported on the availability of loans for the construction of hotels
In February, the president signed a decree “On additional organizational measures to create favorable conditions for the development of the tourist potential of the Republic of Uzbekistan”.
The document was tasked with opening a credit line for the Fund for Reconstruction and Development in the amount of $ 200 million to co-finance investment projects for the construction of hotels, the adjacent road, engineering and communications infrastructure.
The State Committee for the Development of Tourism reported that between the Fund for Reconstruction and Development and four banks (the National Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs, JSCB Agrobank, JSCB Uzpromstroybank, JSCB Asaka) there was an agreement concluded on opening credit lines to commercial banks to allocate loans to them business entities. In four banks you can get a loan for 15 years with a grace period of 5 years.