Anna Bjerde’s Reflections on 30 Years of the Partnership Between the World Bank and Uzbekistan

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00:05 Asala Maleko,

00:06 welcome to Uzbekistan.

00:27 I'm delighted to be back in the country,

00:30 and this visit coincides with

00:32 30 years of partnership between Uzbekistan and the World Bank.

00:36 On September 21,

00:38 1992,

00:39 Uzbekistan became a member of the World Bank.

00:42 During three decades,

00:44 we have worked together to implement.

00:46 67 projects

00:48 totaling over $8.6 billion.

00:52 Many of these projects have focused on improving the livelihoods

00:56 and changing the economy

00:58 towards more growth for Uzbekistan.

01:00 The investments that we have focused on have expanded.

01:04 Education,

01:05 health,

01:06 infrastructure,

01:07 both in urban and rural areas,

01:10 as well as economic reforms from 2017 up to now,

01:14 the World Bank program has shifted dramatically towards supporting the economic

01:19 and social reforms of the country.

01:21 The partnership over these three decades,

01:24 including the period that was mostly focused on the reforms,

01:27 have generated great results.

01:29 And let me just give you one indicator which I'm very proud of.

01:32 In 2018,

01:34 the poverty rate in Uzbekistan

01:36 was 28%.

01:39 By 2022,

01:40 the end of this year,

01:41 we expect it to have gone down to 15%.

01:44 This is a remarkable

01:46 improvement in poverty reduction.

01:48 It means we still have a ways to go,

01:50 and that's what I look forward to talking to you about next.

01:53 Based on the development strategy for new Uzbekistan till 2026,

01:58 the World Bank and the government have

02:00 agreed on a new country partnership framework.

02:03 And under this country partnership framework,

02:05 we will focus on 3 main areas.

02:08 The first area is to continue

02:10 to improve the

02:11 efficiency and the effectiveness of the state and at the same time.

02:16 Develop the private sector in Uzbekistan.

02:18 This will include enabling businesses to establish,

02:22 attracting investment

02:24 with the ultimate goal of generating higher growth

02:27 and creating

02:28 good jobs.

02:29 The second area we will work on

02:31 is really a continuation of the focus on human development.

02:35 This includes both health.

02:37 Education

02:38 as well as social protection,

02:40 and this is really at the core of the development strategy of the country

02:44 and it's also at the core of the World Bank support

02:47 and the third area

02:49 focuses on improving livelihoods

02:51 as well as protecting

02:53 the natural resource endowment of the country.

02:56 With His Excellency the President of Uzbekistan,

02:59 we discussed the progress that we've achieved together,

03:02 but very much also talked about the work we need to do going forward.

03:06 His Excellency asked the World Bank to continue its focus

03:10 on helping

03:11 to improve livelihoods of the people of Uzbekistan

03:14 with a particular focus on women and youth.

03:17 This means creating jobs.

03:19 It means making sure that children

03:22 of Uzbekistan have access to good education,

03:25 and it means that we support

03:28 women.

03:28 Entrepreneurship

03:30 and empowerment

03:31 we talked about the importance of continuing

03:34 the reforms that the country has been undertaking

03:36 and here we focused on reform of state owned companies

03:41 we talked about the need to continue

03:43 the deployment.

03:44 of the private sector to invest in the country

03:47 and we also talked about the importance of looking forward

03:50 as to what type of healthcare system

03:53 makes most sense for the country

03:54 as well as continuous improvement

03:57 to social safety nets and social protection

04:00 as I get ready to leave Uzbekistan for this time.

04:03 I look forward to returning very soon.

04:05 We are so delighted to be working together with the authorities

04:09 to implement good projects and pursue reforms

04:12 and under this new strategy and on the

04:14 basis of the government's development strategy for the country

04:18 for new Uzbekistan,

04:20 tremendous opportunities lie ahead of us and

04:22 great results for the people of Uzbekistan.

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Asala Maleko, welcome to Uzbekistan. I'm delighted to be back in the country, and this visit coincides with 30 years of partnership between Uzbekistan and the World Bank. On September 21, 1992, Uzbekistan became a member of the World Bank. During three decades, we have worked together to implement. 67 projects totaling over $8.6 billion. Many of these projects have focused on improving the livelihoods and changing the economy towards more growth for Uzbekistan. The investments that we have focused on have expanded. Education, health, infrastructure, both in urban and rural areas, as well as economic reforms from 2017 up to now, the World Bank program has shifted dramatically towards supporting the economic and social reforms of the country. The partnership over these three decades, including the period that was mostly focused on the reforms, have generated great results. And let me just give you one indicator which I'm very proud of. In 2018, the poverty rate in Uzbekistan was 28%. By 2022, the end of this year, we expect it to have gone down to 15%. This is a remarkable improvement in poverty reduction. It means we still have a ways to go, and that's what I look forward to talking to you about next. Based on the development strategy for new Uzbekistan till 2026, the World Bank and the government have agreed on a new country partnership framework. And under this country partnership framework, we will focus on 3 main areas. The first area is to continue to improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of the state and at the same time. Develop the private sector in Uzbekistan. This will include enabling businesses to establish, attracting investment with the ultimate goal of generating higher growth and creating good jobs. The second area we will work on is really a continuation of the focus on human development. This includes both health. Education as well as social protection, and this is really at the core of the development strategy of the country and it's also at the core of the World Bank support and the third area focuses on improving livelihoods as well as protecting the natural resource endowment of the country. With His Excellency the President of Uzbekistan, we discussed the progress that we've achieved together, but very much also talked about the work we need to do going forward. His Excellency asked the World Bank to continue its focus on helping to improve livelihoods of the people of Uzbekistan with a particular focus on women and youth. This means creating jobs. It means making sure that children of Uzbekistan have access to good education, and it means that we support women. Entrepreneurship and empowerment we talked about the importance of continuing the reforms that the country has been undertaking and here we focused on reform of state owned companies we talked about the need to continue the deployment. of the private sector to invest in the country and we also talked about the importance of looking forward as to what type of healthcare system makes most sense for the country as well as continuous improvement to social safety nets and social protection as I get ready to leave Uzbekistan for this time. I look forward to returning very soon. We are so delighted to be working together with the authorities to implement good projects and pursue reforms and under this new strategy and on the basis of the government's development strategy for the country for new Uzbekistan, tremendous opportunities lie ahead of us and great results for the people of Uzbekistan.

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Uzbekistan - Anna visit 2022-web

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Uzbekistan - Anna visit 2022-web

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