Investments. 1

Uzbekistan: Innovative Activity to Be Protected by Law.. 1

FINANCE.. 1

Information of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan. 1

An international conference on Afghanistan “The Peace Process, Interaction towards Security, and Regional Cooperation”. 2

Responding to question by reuters. 2

Publications in mass media.. 3

«Uzbekistan wants to establish a new venue for peace talks between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban». 3

CINEMA.. 3

Two Exciting Documentaries as Agreement Outcome. 3

investments

Uzbekistan: Innovative Activity to Be Protected by Law

Innovation Activity Act is projected to be approved in Uzbekistan. The bill was published for popular discussion on March 1, and its initiator is the Ministry of Innovative Development.

The purpose of the legal norm is the regulation of relations between actors of innovation, public authorities and consumers of innovative products.

The document defines the concepts of innovation activity, innovative enterprise, innovation cluster, innovative product, venture fund, technology park and others.

The project describes the state policy in the sphere of innovation. Its main goal is to create favorable conditions for innovative activities, including the effective use of the scientific and technical potential of the country, the introduction of scientific and technical work results with a view to solving the tasks of social and economic development and increasing the competitiveness of the economy.

Among the tasks in the field of innovation is the definition of priority areas of innovation for the development and enhancement of the competitiveness of the national economy, improving the life of the population through the effective use of the intellectual resources of society; providing legal regulation that stimulates the innovative development of the national economy; creation of favorable conditions for the implementation of innovative activities, including for attracting investment in this field; promotion of innovation market development and others.

As expected, the law will come into force from the date of its official publication, which is scheduled for December 20. The draft is available for discussion until March 20.

(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

FINANCE

Information of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan

From datethe Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan has set 13 March 2018 the following exchange rates of foreign currencies to Uzbek sum for accounting, statistic and other reporting on currency operations, as well as calculation of customs and other obligatory payments.

 1 US dollar                USD                8140.06

 1 Euro                        EUR                10030.18

 1 Russian ruble          RUB               143.37

 1 Japanese yen          JPY                 76.51

 1 Australian dollar    AUD               6403.79

 1 Bangladesh Taka    BDT                98.22

 1 Canadian dollar      CAD               6356.94

 1 Yuan Renminbi      CNY               1285.91

 1 Czech Koruna        CZK               394.02

 1 Hungarian Forint    HUF               32.22

 1 Indian Rupee         INR                125.28

 1 Iranian Rial             IRR                 0.22

 1 Israel Sheqel           ILS                 2366.09

 1 Kazakhstan Tenge  KZT                25.38

 1 The Korean Republic WonKRW  7.66

 1 Kuwaiti dinar         KWD              27124.49

 1 Kyrgyzstan Som    KGS               120.07

 1 Malaysian ringgit   MYR              2083.46

 1 Singapore dollar     SGD               6197.23

 1 Swiss franc CHF                            8573.90

 1 UAE dirham          AED               2216.43

 1 Egyptian pound     EGP                463.56

 1 Pound sterling        GBP                11281.31

 1 Turkmen Manat      TMT                2332.40

 1 Turkish lira TRY                            2137.68

 1 Special Drawing RightsXDR        11827.51

 1 AF Afghani                        AFN               118.04

 1 Tajikistan Somoni  TJS                  922.90

 1 Belarussian Ruble  BYN               4165.84

 1 Bulgarian Lev        BGN               5129.86

 1 Ukrainian hryvnia  UAH               311.88

 1 Georgian Lari         GEL                3356.73

 1 Polish zloty             PLN                2393.08

 1 Brazilian Real         BRL                2500.94

Exchange rates are set without any obligations of the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan to buy or sell currencies on these rates.

(Source: Cbu.uz)

An international conference on Afghanistan “The Peace Process, Interaction towards Security, and Regional Cooperation”

Responding to question by reuters

Question: Possible participation of representatives of the armed Afghan opposition, in particular the Taliban Movement, in the forthcoming Tashkent international conference on Afghanistan is currently being discussed in various circles. Is there any chance to confirm or refute this officially and clarify the level of attendance of foreign countries’ delegations in the forum?

Answer: As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan has informed the public, invitations to the high-level conference initiated by Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have been sent to the UN Secretary General and the Special Representative for Afghanistan, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, as well as Ministers of Foreign Affairs of China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The invitation was also sent to Qatar.

By March 12, foreign ministers of Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan preliminarily confirmed participation in the forum through diplomatic channels. The US will be represented by the Deputy Secretary of State.

Information on the level of other participants of the conference is pending.

Regarding the Taliban, a request for participation in the conference has been received neither through the Foreign Ministry of Afghanistan nor directly.

Meanwhile, as mentioned earlier, the contributors to the forum are expected to express their consolidated stance for the necessity to start – in the soonest possible time – direct talks between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban without any preconditions. The fundamental thesis also anticipated to be included in the ensuing Tashkent Declaration is that the peace process should be Afghan-owned and Afghan-led, in accordance with the provisions of resolutions and decisions of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council. Another key point is that the international community strongly opposes all forms and manifestations of terrorism.

(Source: Press Service of the MFA of the Republic of Uzbekistan)

Publications in mass media

«Uzbekistan wants to establish a new venue for peace talks between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban»

This opinion is expressed by many media outlets abroad after public announcements about the upcoming Tashkent international high-level conference on Afghanistan "Peace process, cooperation in the field of security and regional interaction." made by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan.

 «Uzbekistan invited the world’s top diplomats to a conference later this month,» informs the «Reuters» news agency (Great Britain). «The Tashkent government hopes the conference will jumpstart the “Afghan-owned, Afghan-led process for national reconciliation».

Among the expected forum participants are UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and his Special Representative for Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto, heads of foreign policy departments of the European Union, China, Russia, the United States, Britain and many other countries, informs its readers the British newspaper «Daily Mail».

«It is unclear, however, whether any Taliban representatives will be present at the meeting where Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is set to deliver a keynote speech», wonders the television channel «Euronews».

In turn, the authoritative American newspaper «The New York Times» notes, the upcoming meeting is another large-scale event organized on the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. «Came to power in 2016, he has pledged to open up the resource-rich nation of 32 million to the outside world».

Another American newspaper «US News» stresses that «initiating the Tashkent Conference, Uzbekistan by no means intends to confine itself to arranging it as a one-off event, but to continue with vigorous efforts – both bilaterally and multilaterally – to promote a peaceful political process in Afghanistan».

The international information service of the Swiss national television and radio company (SRG SSR) «Swissinfo» states that U.S. President Donald Trump supported the conference in a message, saying his «administration is considering the composition of the relevant delegation of the United States».

Observers of the largest Singapore newspaper «Today» focus on the Tashkent Declaration on Afghanistan, the adoption of which is expected at the end of the forum. «The document will reflect the call for guaranteed integration of the armed opposition into the political life of Afghanistan» while condemning «all forms and manifestations of terrorism», writes the publication.

(Source: Press Service of the MFA of the Republic of Uzbekistan)

CINEMA

Two Exciting Documentaries as Agreement Outcome

Outcomes of the agreement on the joint production of documentary films, signed between the National Association of Electronic Mass Media of Uzbekistan (NAEMM) and the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), have been presented in Tashkent.

It was signed in July 2017 and it meant the creation of two documentary films about the historical and cultural heritage, national traditions and the current stage of social and economic development of the two countries - Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea. Initially it was planned that for the filming of documentary films a creative group from Uzbekistan will visit Korea, and the Korean film crew will make a visit to our country.

Filming of a documentary film in our republic was held last October, during which NAEMM assisted colleagues from Korea in organizational, creative and administrative matters. This film, entitled “Sasha’s Arirang” is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Korean Diaspora in Uzbekistan. It was successfully broadcasted on the air of the KBS channel and was well received by the TV viewers of the Country of morning freshness. Soon it will be shown on non-governmental TV channels in Uzbekistan, now dubbing in Russian is coming to the end.

As part of the agreement, the NAEMM film crew visited the Republic of Korea to shoot a documentary about the Uzbeks living in the country. The film tells about the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Uzbekistan and Korea, friendly relations between the two countries in the spheres of economy, culture and sport, Uzbek youth studying in this country. It will be aired in March this year.

At the presentation it was noted that such projects will serve to strengthen friendly relations and will promote the development of tourism of our countries.

(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

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