President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov met with president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Haruhiko Kuroda at Oqsaroy, February 16.

Welcoming the guest, the Head of state held that Uzbekistan has actively interacted with numerous authoritative international financial institutions, yet it attaches a particular magnitude to the expansion of cooperation with the ADB.

A long-standing and reliable partner of the republic, the ADB has consistently elaborated – together with Uzbek specialists – and implemented a strategy of cooperation with our nation in various sectors of economy. The 43rd Annual Meeting of ADB, to be called in early May this year in Tashkent, will be the Bank’s first such gathering in the Central Asian region, in acknowledgement by the international community of the model of economic reforms constantly perfected in the republic.

Credit resources exceeding 1.2 billion US dollars have been efficiently used since 1995 when the nation became a full member of the ADB. The funds are allocated to strategically critical projects aimed at improving transport infrastructure, energy sector, agriculture, education, small and medium business and many others. In terms of loan portfolios, the ADB leads among international financial institutions cooperating with Uzbekistan.

At the meeting, Haruhiko Kuroda expressed sincere gratitude to President Karimov for the warm welcome and said that the ADB intends to enhance the scope of interaction with the republic in a range of sectors of the economy.

Prospects to consolidate cooperation as well as other subjects of mutual interest were discussed at the occasion.