The legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan guarantees equal rights for women in their participation in political, social and economic activities of the country. Uzbekistan has built a system to defend women’s rights doing business and provide necessary consultancy and support.

The government of Uzbekistan places great emphasis on supporting women’s entrepreneurship. Particularly, within poverty reduction program actions are being taken to develop family entrepreneurship, employment, support for women’s and youth initiatives. 100 billion soums are allocated in 2020 from Anti-Crisis Fund under the Ministry of Finance to address poverty in the country.

A number of projects in the area of small business and entrepreneurship totaling 700 million dollars are planned implement along with the United Nations, World Bank Group and other international organizations.

COVID-19 had its impact on 196 thousand businesses that had to cut the production process, causing unemployment. At times of pandemic 141 thousand 800 hundred jobless people received employment with the help of Employment Assistance Fund and Public Works Fund. The two issued 43 billion 225 million soums salary payment. Systematic approach to supporting local women’s entrepreneurship is an important factor in achieving significant results in the area. In 2019 only, more than 170 thousand women received jobs.

More than 172 thousand got loans amounting 4,9 trillion soums from commercial banks and Public Fund for Support to Women and Families. 21,500 women were trained in short-term professional courses within «The Five Main Initiatives».

Thanks to such opportunities, the number of women who started their business during the year increased by almost 45 thousand; they organized thousands of new jobs. In 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic, 2 thousand 744 women set up 4 thousand 167 workplaces. This year, commercial banks allocated 586 billion 126 million soums loans to 426 women. In the regions, 1,448 women were provided with employment through handcrafting on the basis of the «Mentor-Pupil» system, 301 women – by engaging in home-based work. Despite this, there are still many issues that need to be addressed.

Among them are raising the level of awareness of women about the opportunities available in the country in terms of starting a business, high interest rates on loans, increasing women’s knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship, and eliminating some of the barriers to establishing small businesses.

MUZAFFARABAD, May 28, (DNA) : The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said that the Indian rulers are habitual of attempting to coerce the weak and kneeling before the powerful.

“The inattention of the international community toward the massacre of defenseless and peaceful Kashmiri people for the last 72 years, and threats to impose war on Pakistan, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan had emboldened the Indian fanatic rulers to challenge China and Nepal, but China gave a measured response,” he underlined.

In interview with different private TV channels and media outlets, the AJK president held the Indian fanatic rulers responsible of igniting tension. He expressed hope that the tension will help the world to realize the importance of peaceful and diplomatic solution of the disputes including the Kashmir issue.

“Unarmed clashes between Chinese and Indian soldiers in Ladakh and Naku La at the Sikkim-Tibet border will redefine the strategic landscape and international diplomacy for Kashmir, if the tensions grow further.

Sardar Masood Khan asserted that the Indian extremist rulers are constantly taking actions, particularly in occupied Kashmir, Line of Control and are hurling threats on Pakistan which may culminate in a war.

While commenting on the nuclear capability, Pakistan had acquired on May 28, 1998, the AJK president said that the nuclear capability had made Pakistan’s defense invincible. However, we are trying to use the nuclear capability as deterrence instead of sword, but the shrewd and unreliable Indian rulers can do anything including false flag operation, limited war or hybrid war.

About China-India tension in Ladakh, he said that China does not believe in war, but India is constantly engaged to push the region towards a war.

While declaring China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a flagship project of both the countries, the AJK president said that every attempt to sabotage this project would be foiled.

He said that the people of Pakistan as well as Jammu and Kashmir do not believe in war and destruction, but if India did not stop the brutalities of its forces in occupied Kashmir, the peace of South Asia cannot be guaranteed.

Welcoming the statement of the UN Secretary General António Guterres about the anti-Muslim bigotry during the situation of coronavirus pandemic, AJK President said that the United Nations should also raise its voice against the massacre and ethnic cleansing of Muslims in occupied Kashmir.

“More than 100 youth have been killed and thousands of other youth arrested in occupied Kashmir during the last few months,” he said adding that the youth detained in the Indian prisons were being subjected to the worst torture.

Ridiculing allegation of the Indian Government that spy pigeons were being sent to occupied Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan said that the Indian Army is afraid of even the innocent birds because they know that they are a foreign army in an alien land, and thus they are not secure here.

“Modi and his cohorts now imprison pigeons. Soon they would be capturing balloons. Even after deploying bulk of their troops in the foreign territory of Kashmir, they feel afraid and insecure. Next, they could start arresting the air coming from AJK and Pakistan,” Khan concluded.

ISLAMABAD, MAY 28 / DNA / Prime Minister Imran Khan will be participating in a virtual High-Level Event on Financing for Development (FFD) in Era of COVID-19 and Beyond, today.

The High-Level Event is being hosted by the Prime Ministers of Canada and Jamaica and the UN Secretary General. A select number of Heads of State and Government have been invited to address the High-Level meeting.

Apart from Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Presidents of France, South Africa, Kazakhstan, the Prime Ministers of United Kingdom, Japan, Norway, Italy and Ireland, the German Chancellor and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, will address the High-Level Event. The debt vulnerability of developing countries will be one of the six interlinked financial issues to be discussed at the High-Level Event.

In April, Prime Minister Imran Khan had issued a call for a “Global Initiative on Debt Relief “to create fiscal space for developing countries to enable them to recover from the current crisis and revive sustainable economic growth. In response to his call, and under Pakistan’s leadership, a representative group of developing and developed countries, and major financial institutions, have commenced informal consultations on the sidelines of the United Nations to evolve agreement on some measures and practical actions to address the debt challenge of the developing countries.

In his address to the High-Level Event, the Prime Minister will share his vision on possible ways to address the debt issue and the enormous financial challenges facing developing countries.

The invitation extended to the Prime Minister reflects the recognition of his role as a sincere spokesman for the developing countries and the timeliness of his call for collective action to overcome the debt distress of so many developing countries. This recognition has enabled Pakistan to bring together a credible group of countries, including the largest economic powers, to address the debt issue.

The Prime Minister’s leading role in advancing solutions to the vital issues of debt, liquidity, investment and sustainable development will greatly enhance the prospects for Pakistan and other developing countries to secure the international support, solidarity and cooperation needed to ensure a rapid recovery from the most serious recession the world has faced since the Great Depression a century ago.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan, MAY 28 — On 27 May, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with the presentation of projects in the fields of tourism and the privatization of state assets.

The coronavirus pandemic negatively affected the tourism industry. According to the forecast of the World Tourism Organization, by the end of 2020, international tourist trips will be reduced by 89 percent, 74 million jobs will be reduced, and the total losses in the industry will amount to US$800 billion.

As you know, from 16 March, our country is closed to foreign and local tourists. As a result, more than 1.5 thousand tour operators and 1.2 thousand hotels have suspended their activities.

This seriously affected the income of more than 250 thousand people, including guides, artisans, workers of architectural monuments and spa facilities, catering facilities, transport and others.

To mitigate the effects of the pandemic, a number of preferences were also provided to the tourism industry. In particular, 1,750 entities were granted privileges on property tax, land and social taxes in the amount of about 60 billion soums. But these benefits and preferences are temporary. For continuous sustainable development, it is necessary to learn how to work in a pandemic.

In this regard, foreign experience has been studied. A system of sanitary and epidemiological safety for tourists “Uzbekistan. Safe travel guaranteed”.

The head of state reviewed the presentation of this project. Information is also provided on plans for the restoration and development of domestic tourism.

The President emphasized that for starters it is necessary to allow domestic tourism between regions with a green status. Instructions are given for organizing recreation centers in mountainous areas and on the coast of lakes using lightweight structures. Together with the khokims, the deployment of recreation centers will be determined, the relevant data will be posted on the electronic portal.

At the second stage, it is necessary to create a list of countries with a stable situation on coronavirus and gradually restore tourist relations with them, the meeting indicated.

– To resume tourism, first of all, there must be a clear answer to a number of fundamental questions. For example, how hotels will work, how will they receive tourists at the airport, how to organize their movement within the country? Defined rules should be simple and at the same time sufficient to prevent the disease. It is necessary to develop a system that does not require quarantine of the entire hotel due to one infection, said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Tourism entrepreneurs who have suffered losses due to the pandemic are unlikely to cover them in the next 1-2 years. In this regard, the President emphasized the need to provide additional benefits and preferences for this industry.

In particular, the previously granted exemption in the form of exemption from tourist fees will be extended until the end of the year. Also, enterprises of the industry, when calculating income tax, will be allowed to deduct losses incurred in 2020-2021 from the profits of subsequent years.

Hotels will be given subsidies in the amount of 10 percent of the cost of the services they provide. In addition, they will subsidize up to 10 percent of payments on loans allocated to working capital.

Competition is one of the most important conditions for economic development. It provides the quality of goods and services, provides consumers with the opportunity to choose. It is these goals that the measures taken today to reduce the state’s presence in the economy and the fight against monopolies are pursuing.

Specific measures in this direction are defined in the Strategy of Action for Five Priority Directions for the Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2017-2021 and the Decree of the President “On measures to radically improve the system of managing state assets, antitrust regulation and the capital market” from 14 January 2019.

Currently, there are 2,965 state-owned enterprises in the country. Most of them work inefficiently, using obsolete methods. More than half of these enterprises are not even able to pay dividends.

At a meeting held on 11 December 2019, the President was instructed to reform these enterprises on the basis of market principles, and to sell them to private investors. In accordance with this, a bulk inventory of such objects was carried out.

Since the beginning of this year, 299 state assets worth 348 billion soums have been sold. New investors invested a total of 3.3 trillion soums in these facilities and pledged to create 4.7 thousand new jobs.

In particular, the former Chorsu Hotel, the Samarkandkimyo enterprise, the state share in the Uzbekistan Hotel and the Kungrad Soda Plant were sold. 425 million dollars will be invested in these facilities; creation of 800 new jobs is envisaged.

During the presentation, information was presented on plans for the privatization of state assets, the identification and effective use of vacant space and land, the implementation of corporate governance in state enterprises.

The President emphasized the need to continue work in this direction, to accelerate the transfer of another 1.4 thousand state assets to private investors. The Cabinet of Ministers is instructed to approve the privatization program.

The State Assets Management Agency and industry leaders are tasked with liquidating 711 inefficient enterprises, reorganizing 262 enterprises, and transferring over 500 markets to the private sector. The importance of introducing a new management system and reforming enterprises that remain at the disposal of the state was emphasized.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan, MAY 28 – As of 16:30 on 27 May 2020, in Uzbekistan, the number of cases of coronavirus infection reached 3355, growing by 22.

Coronavirus was detected in another 22 people: 5 cases – in Tashkent, 4 – in Tashkent region, 14 – among those in quarantine.

In our country at the moment, 2659 (+23) citizens have completely recovered from coronavirus infection.