The President of the EBRD Suma Chakrabarti today send a message to the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Dear Mr. President,
It gives me a great pleasure to inform you that yesterday the Board of Directors of the EBRD unanimously approved the first two operations in Uzbekistan. This was an important milestone in the “new beginning” in relations between Uzbekistan and the EBRD.
Indeed, I’m glad to see that my team managed to quickly develop several investment opportunities after my meeting with you and signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Uzbekistan in March in Tashkent. I am confident that this sends a strong and convincing signal confirming the commitment of the EBRD to the Republic of Uzbekistan and our support for program of political and economic reforms initiated by you.
These two operations consist of a credit line to the National Bank of Uzbekistan for US$100 million to support small and medium-sized businesses and trade finance, as well as a loan of US$10 million to private fruit juice company Agromir. Both projects fully correspond to the priorities that we agreed with you and your government. These projects make a significant contribution to the country’s economic growth by strengthening the banking sector, small and medium-sized businesses and agribusiness.
Our specialists are currently developing a tangible package of additional investment projects in financial, agricultural and industrial sectors, as well as the development of municipal infrastructure. We also launched the "Small Business Consulting" program, the first projects of which have already been launched. In addition, we are currently finalizing our preliminary diagnosis for the Country Strategy. We hope that our delegation on the Strategy will meet with your government early next year in order to agree on priorities for the EBRD’s long-term activities in the country.
I would like to reiterate our strong support for ongoing reforms in your country, which will be expressed by EBRD First Vice President Phil Bennett and Vice President for Risk, Betsy Nelson, during their visit to Tashkent in early November. During this visit, our team will officially open the office of the EBRD office in Tashkent, hold a series of meetings with your government and take part in the High-Level International Conference on Security and Sustainable Development in Central Asia, which will be held on 10-11 November in Samarkand.
President of the EBRD
Suma Chakrabarti
