Deputy PM Jamshid Kuchkarov names 4 priorities of Uzbekistan for reducing poverty 

On May 18, the second international forum on poverty reduction began in Tashkent. More than 200 delegates are participating in it, including economists, experts from international organizations such as UN, UN Development Program, International Labor Organization, World Bank, UNICEF, Asian Development Bank, FTA, GIZ and other international organizations.

At the opening of the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Kuchkarov spoke about the results achieved in reducing poverty and the government’s priorities in this regard, Kun.uz correspondent reported.

“The level of poverty in Uzbekistan is steadily decreasing. The poverty rate fell from 17% to 14%. What factors decreased? Economic growth, per capita economic growth has been steady since 2017.

Active social policy. To date, 2 million people are receiving social benefits. This is an effective way to fight poverty. On the one hand, we are spending trillions of funds from the budget. While poverty has been reduced through per capita economic growth and the provision of social benefits, this is the first time poverty reduction among women has been targeted. I would like to note: we cannot reduce poverty with social support,” he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister named the main directions of the government in the fight against poverty.

“If you look at our cooperation program with the World Bank, its biggest focus is the development of human capital.

They are asking us what directions you have set. In the first place, development of agriculture, development of entrepreneurship in rural areas. For the first time, at the initiative of our president, we are leasing land to people for 30 years.

The second is the development of industry in rural areas, and the third is the development of infrastructure – to speed up the delivery of goods from one place to another, to increase the mobility of people. At the same time, providing people with drinking water and electricity, with the extensive use of green technologies.

Fourth, the process of urbanization. In Uzbekistan, the rural population is 50%, which is a large figure. One might ask how you are going to reduce poverty sustainably with a 50% urbanization rate. Therefore, urbanization is one of the most important areas,” Jamshid Kuchkarov said.

For information, this forum is organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Poverty Reduction and Employment with the support of the Center for Economic Research and Reforms, the UNDP Office in Uzbekistan and the UNICEF Office in Uzbekistan.

According to the organizers, the goal of the international forum is to study advanced world experience and methods of combating poverty, to form priorities for joint research to be carried out in the coming years, with a special emphasis on a coordinated comprehensive approach to the eradication of multidimensional poverty, social protection and targeted assistance, to refine the quality of training programs in the labor market by improving human capital, to support the growth of small businesses, to expand access to high-quality education.