In 2023-2028, Uzbekistan will implement a project to create a value chain in the fruit and vegetable industry with the participation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The total cost of the project is $323 million, including:
– a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – $200 million;
– the contribution of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Project in the form of value added tax coverage and customs duty exemptions – $58.3 million;
– contribution of Project participants (loan recipients – Project initiators) – $64.8 million.
The project is being implemented in all regions of Uzbekistan, and its implementation period is 6 years – from 2023 to 2028.
The International Center for Strategic Development and Research in Food and Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan has been appointed as the executive body responsible for the timely and complete implementation, coordination and management of the project.
Following the summit of the Organization of Turkic States, the leaders of the member states of the organization decided to establish a Turkic Investment Fund with a capital of $500 million.
The creation of the Turkic Investment Fund will help to solve a whole range of tasks related to the development of the organization’s members. In particular, it is expected that its funds will be used to develop intra-regional trade, finance small and medium-sized business projects, support the expansion of transport and logistics chains, promote the creation and modernization of physical and digital infrastructure, and support development projects in areas of mutual interest, including industrial production, infrastructure, transport, agriculture, information and communication technologies, green economy, and tourism.
The fund will have a president, a board of governors, a board of directors, a CEO, and staff. The President will be appointed by the Board of Governors on a rotating basis for a four-year term without extension or reappointment. The Fund will be headquartered in Istanbul.
The Turkic Investment Fund will operate for 20 years from the date of its inaugural meeting. The Board of Governors may decide to terminate or extend the term of the Fund at any time. In addition, the Board of Governors is authorized to periodically review the adequacy of resources and may decide to make additional contributions.
The Fund will have the status of an international financial organization.
Industrial production in Ukraine in 2022 fell by 36.9%, while in 2021 there was an increase of 1.9%, the State Statistics Service (Gosstat) said on Monday. The agency specified that industrial production in Ukraine decreased by 44.1% in December 2022 against December 2021, while in November the decline was 41.9% and in October – 41.6%.
Last year March was the worst month for the dynamics of industrial production, when after the Russian full-scale invasion it dropped by 53.7%, although in January the growth of 2.9% was recorded, and in February it was 10.1%.
In April the rate of decline decreased to 46.6%, and in May-June – to 40.9%-40.8%, respectively.
In the third quarter, before Russian shelling caused problems with energy supplies, this trend continued: after industrial production fell by 42.3% in July, in August and September it was 39.4% and 39.8%, respectively.
The State Statistics Service specifies that the data does not include the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as part of the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
By sectors, the statistics agency recorded the largest decline – 41.2% – in the processing industry, while in the extractive industry it was 30.1%, in the supply of electricity, gas and steam – 30.7%.
At the same time, in the extractive industry such indicator provided coal mining (down 7.7%) and gas and oil (down 8.4%), while in the mining of metal ores decline was 61.7% and other minerals and quarrying – 75.1%.
The crisis in the U.S. banking industry has led to a bubble in the segment of money market funds, writes MarketWatch referring to the report of Bank of America Corp.
According to analysts at the bank, over the past four weeks, assets under management of money market funds have grown by $300 billion – more than $5.1 trillion.
In addition, the bank’s experts point to the largest weekly inflows in money market investments since March 2020, the largest six-week inflows in US Treasuries in history and the largest outflows from the investment grade bond market since October 2022.
There was a surge in assets under money market funds in 2008 and 2020. However, at that time, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) was lowering interest rates, not raising them. On March 22, the U.S. regulator reportedly raised the federal funds rate by 25 basis points.
“The stock and bond markets want too much of a rate cut and not enough of a recession,” BofA analysts said.
The Finnish manufacturer of telecommunications equipment Nokia in Ukraine has joined the country’s current legal and tax regime for IT companies Diia.City, the press service of the Ministry of Digital Transformation reported on Saturday.
“Residency will give the company the best legal and tax conditions, tools for attracting venture capital investments, and protection of intellectual property rights. Now, the company can develop more actively in Ukraine and contribute to the development of the digital economy,” Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Development, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on his Telegram channel.
Soon Nokia plans to create a separate group of experts to restore the telecom infrastructure of Ukraine. The company is a partner of the Ministry of Digital Transformation in the development of the Internet and communications in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Nokia has donated 5,000 routers to Ukraine, which are already providing Internet shelters in schools.
The total number of Diia.City residents has increased to 496 companies, the Ministry of Digital Transformation said.