On March 4, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed reports on poverty reduction, employment, investment, and exports, assessing key economic indicators and progress made since the start of the year.

A new system to support employment was introduced earlier this year, facilitating cooperation agreements between 208 district and city governors and bank heads. As part of this initiative, special neighborhood banking divisions were established within bank branches, with neighborhood bankers appointed.

As a result, 239,000 people gained employment in January, followed by 480,000 in February. Since the beginning of the year, 14 trillion UZS has been allocated in loans to support small and medium-sized businesses, including 2 trillion UZS within entrepreneurship programs.

Citizens are being introduced to income-generating opportunities, ready-to-launch business projects, and are provided with guidance on their implementation. Those securing jobs are formally registered with the Tax Committee. The performance of responsible officials is regularly monitored to ensure task completion.

During the meeting, these analyses were presented.

Employment efforts have been particularly successful in Jizzakh, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Navoi regions, as well as in projects supported by the National Bank of Uzbekistan, Asakabank, Microcreditbank, and the Business Development Bank.

However, Syrdarya region and 24 districts and cities reported lower-than-expected results. As a response, 30 underperforming officials faced disciplinary measures for failing to meet targets.

To improve outcomes in the coming months, authorities emphasized the importance of vocational training and sustainable employment opportunities. It was instructed to ensure planting of crops in the current spring season on all homestead plots and leased land, with monitoring of the process through the online-mahalla.uz platform.

Investment and export performance showed positive trends over the past two months. Since the beginning of the year, more than 6 billion USD in foreign investment and loans have been utilized. A total of 1,100 small and medium-sized projects worth 574 million USD have been implemented, creating over 17,000 new jobs.

Goods and services worth 2.8 billion USD were exported. Notably, jewelry exports increased sevenfold compared to last year, while exports of chemicals grew by 1.7 times, electrical engineering and food exports grew 1.2 times, and tourism services expanded 1.6 times.

Additionally, 132 enterprises adopted international standards, and 521 businesses entered foreign markets for the first time, contributing an additional 183 million USD in exports in February alone.

The meeting highlighted low investment performance in certain sectors and regions, discussing the underlying causes and potential solutions.

Dilmurod Qosimov has been appointed as Deputy Prosecutor General of Uzbekistan. His role includes overseeing the protection of entrepreneursʼ and investorsʼ rights, with prosecutorʼs offices playing a greater role in fostering a favorable legal environment.

Officials reported plans to attract more than 8 billion USD in foreign investments by the end of the first quarter and outlined strategies to expand export opportunities.