TASHKENT (TCA) — In 2016 the economy of Uzbekistan will receive an equivalent of US $17.3 billion of capital investment, 23.5 percent of which will be foreign investments, Uzbek President Islam Karimov said in his New Year address to the nation.
Karimov said that in 2016, Uzbekistan expects an economic growth of 7.8 percent and real per capita income of the population will grow by 9.5 percent.
State budget spending for the social sector, including education, science, healthcare, culture, sports, and social welfare, will increase compared to 2015 and will make up 59.1 percent of the total budget expenses.
This year the country will complete and commission 164 large industrial facilities worth a total of $5.5 billion, including two 450 MW gas turbines at the Talimarjan thermal electric power plant, a 150 MW generating unit at the Angren power plant, and a smelter for 70 thousand tons of copper per year at the Almalyk mining and metallurgical plant.
In 2016 Chinese partners will help complete a railway tunnel through the Kamchik mountain pass, which will connect the Uzbek part of the Fergana Valley to Uzbekistan’s mainland, the president said.
This year the high-speed rail line from Tashkent to Samarkand will be extended to Bukhara.
The Mubarek gas processing plant will launch production of 80 thousand tons of granulated sulfur per year.
In addition, this year Uzbekistan will start producing modern tractors, mobile phones, tablet computers, notebooks, TV sets, refrigerators, air conditioners, and a wide range of medication, the president said.
