A delegation of the European Investment Bank headed by the EIB Vice President Vazil Hudák will take part in the First International Tourism Investment Forum (MIF) in Tashkent on 19-21 November 2018.
This was announced during a meeting of the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the European Union, Dilyor Khakimov, on the eve of the visit with the EIB officials.
EIB Managing Advisor Umberto della Pant, Head of Credit Operations for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Lionel Rapael also took part in the conversation.
The meeting discussed the upcoming events of the Uzbek-European financial cooperation. In particular, the parties exchanged views on the current state of development of promising EIB projects in Uzbekistan during implementation of the Framework Agreement (Washington, October 2017), as well as agreements on the allocation of funding in the amount of 200 million euros, signed on 5 October 2018.
Regarding the participation of the EIB delegation in the upcoming investment forum, the parties confirmed that tourism has a direct and very important economic impact on development of all related infrastructure (transport, social services, services, etc.), which ultimately turns it in a highly profitable sector of the economy of any country.
The interest of the Vice-President of the EIB was caused by the information that the MIF will bring together investors from Europe and Asia, representatives of international financial institutions and organizations in the tourism sector, experts and specialists from the tourism industry, heads of major domestic and foreign companies. In turn, Vazil Hudák confirmed that a representative delegation under his direct supervision will take part in the work of this forum.
During the meeting, it was noted that the EIB is confidently looking at expanding cooperation with Uzbekistan. In particular, in the near future, the process of developing documents for practical implementation of specific projects will continue. It is expected that this work will also involve other international financial institutions and multilateral partners.
The Vice President of the EIB stressed that the Bank does not intend to stop there. Along with the signed agreements, the focus of discussion are the priorities for Uzbekistan, identified by the leadership of our country as priorities. This applies primarily to such important sectors and sectors of socio-economic development as district heating, waste management, agriculture, and agro-food.
