Uzbekistan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have signed a loan agreement, this time for lending by the Sustainable Economic and Social Development Support Program in Japan, worth up to ¥37 billion ($246 million).
The loan will help the Uzbek government continue its reforms to make the country’s economy more market-driven. Its objective is to safeguard social cohesion and stability, encompassing the citizens who are susceptible to fluctuations in financial circumstances. JICA supports enhancing market institutions and the conditions that allow the private sector to flourish — as well as enhancing state-owned enterprise governance, promoting social inclusion, and promoting sustainability.
Moreover, the line of credit contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of poverty eradication, promoting gender equality, work safeguards and economic growth. The Ministry of Economy and Finance is designated as the executive agency of the agreement on the part of Uzbekistan. The loan is provided for a period of 30 years.
In January 2022, at a meeting between the Director of the Cultural Heritage Agency of Uzbekistan Shahriyor Nurulloyev and first deputy head of the JICA office in Uzbekistan Yoshimasa Takemura, JICA allocated ¥55.9 million yen ($490,000) to their Uzbek counterparts. Funds were given to preserve and digitize cultural heritage archives and to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the field of cultural heritage preservation.
