A plenary meeting of the "Country Platform" for Uzbekistan takes place in Tashkent

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- This year’s first plenary session of the "country platform" for Uzbekistan was held at the International Business Center. The event was organized by the Agency for Strategic Reforms under the President of Uzbekistan with the assistance of the World Bank. 

During the meeting, issues of interaction with donors and development partners were discussed as part of supporting the government of Uzbekistan in achieving the goals outlined in the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026.

The Country Platform mechanism was introduced in October 2019 as part of the Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Washington. Uzbekistan has become one of 13 pilot countries participating in the testing of this mechanism, starting from 2020. Its goal is to coordinate the interaction of the governments of these countries with international financial institutions, international organizations, bilateral development partners that provide financial and technical assistance in the development and implementation of government programs and projects that contribute to the socio-economic development of recipient countries.

According to the press service of the Agency for Strategic Reforms, the "Country Platform" allows Uzbekistan to: 1) ensure the prompt mobilization and use of external assistance to address a wide range of socio-economic issues; 2) use a consistent and systematic approach to the development, preparation and implementation of significant socio-economic projects with the involvement of financial and experience of international development partners; and 3) attract the financing necessary for the sustainable development of strategic sectors of the economy.

The first meeting of the platform this year (they are organized on a regular basis) was attended by representatives of a number of ministries, departments and executive agencies involved in the implementation of strategic reforms and projects, as well as Uzbekistan’s international development partners providing financial and technical assistance in this process.

The participants of the meeting noted that the main goal of the “country platform” is to assist the government of Uzbekistan in achieving the goals outlined in the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026, including the issues of poverty reduction, human capital development, transition to a “green” economy and “green energy”. In general, support for reforms aimed at sustainable growth of the country’s economy and at improving the welfare of the population.

In 2023, the representative office of the World Bank in Uzbekistan began to perform the functions of the secretariat of the "country platform", taking over from the Asian Development Bank. During the meeting, issues of interaction between development partners and the secretariat, the preparation of the Country Platform Work Plan for 2023, as well as the formation of 12 thematic working groups, including their mandate, composition, work methodology, goals and objectives for 2023, were discussed.

Representatives of interested ministries, departments, executive agencies and international partners take part in the work of the above groups. Each group coordinates financial and technical assistance from donors in specific areas, including: energy and mining, agriculture, transport, health, education, urban development, water management, water supply and sanitation, state enterprise and bank reform, public-private partnerships, public finance, green growth, rule of law and good governance, and optimization and simplification procedures for preparing projects implemented with the participation of international financial institutions.

During the meeting, international partners reaffirmed their firm determination to continue providing coordinated, effective, consistent and transparent assistance to Uzbekistan in the implementation of strategic reforms and projects in the above areas.