Tashkent, April 11, 2025 — The Europe Today: President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev received a high-level delegation from the World Bank Group, led by Managing Director of Operations Anna Bjerde, for a meeting aimed at strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between Uzbekistan and the international financial institution.
During the talks, Anna Bjerde conveyed the sincere greetings and best wishes of World Bank President Ajay Banga to President Mirziyoyev. The two sides expressed deep satisfaction with the exceptionally high level of productive cooperation achieved in recent years.
Uzbekistan remains one of the World Bank’s largest partner countries, with a robust project portfolio exceeding $12 billion. The Bank provides financial, advisory, and technical support to advance Uzbekistan’s ambitious economic reform strategy, with the overarching goal of promoting sustainable development across key sectors of the economy and the social sphere.
The parties discussed ongoing collaboration in enhancing mechanisms for the preparation and implementation of projects involving international financial institutions. Notably, a new procedural framework has been introduced to accelerate and improve the quality of such initiatives.
Looking ahead, several priority areas for continued cooperation were identified. These include poverty reduction through the creation of employment opportunities for women and youth, particularly in the tourism industry; support for private sector development and public-private partnership programs; and the transformation and privatization of state-owned enterprises.
Special emphasis was placed on joint efforts in decarbonization, urbanization, and infrastructure modernization. Other key areas of cooperation include boosting energy efficiency, improving the investment climate, and supporting Uzbekistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The meeting also included a fruitful exchange of views on advancing major regional projects aimed at fostering economic integration and sustainable growth in Central Asia.
