Karakalpakstan is an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, bordering with Turkmenistan. It was a thriving region in the 1970s, when irrigation from the Amu Darya was being expanded. However, the evaporation of the Aral Sea has made Karakalpakstan one of Uzbekistan’s poorest regions.
Karakalpakstan has an area of 166,590 km2 (64,320 sq mi), and has a population of about 2 million people. Its territory covers the classical land of Khwarazm.
The region suffers from extensive droughts, partly due to climate patterns, but also largely because the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers are mostly diverted in the eastern parts of Uzbekistan. Crop failures have deprived about 48,000 people of their main source of income and shortages of potable water have created a surge of infectious diseases.
The government of Uzbekistan is working to alleviate the suffering of this autonomous region through a number of immediate and long-term measures. The results are encouraging.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, while visiting the region recently, spoke about the steps being taken by his administration.
He said that over the past five years, more than 50 benefits and preferences have been provided to Karakalpakstan in the fields of industry, entrepreneurship and infrastructure. In particular, the right to directly allocate land for the implementation of investment projects was introduced only in Karakalpakstan.
Infrastructure is being supplied to projects worth more than 50 billion soums (about $3.9 million).
Due to the benefits, more than 2 trillion soums (about $158 million) remained at the disposal of entrepreneurs.
44.5 trillion soums (about $3.5 billion) were allocated to improve the region’s business infrastructure. As a result, more than 25 thousand new business entities have emerged in recent years.
Last year alone, more than 1.4 thousand projects worth $345 million were implemented, and more than 10 thousand new jobs were created. In the first half of this year, $730 million of foreign investment was disbursed.
The number of enterprises with foreign capital is also increasing in Karakalpakstan. If in 2017 there were 73 foreign and joint ventures, today their number has reached 175.
More than 120 new major projects valued at approximately $9.5 billion are currently underway to boost the region’s economy. These projects will be launched in stages in 2025-2028. As a result, more than 20 thousand new jobs will be created, production capacity worth 12 trillion soums and additional budget revenues worth 500 billion soums.
The head of state dwelled on the significance of the beginning construction and the complexes being put into operation.
In recent years, through investments of $2 billion, 10 solar and wind stations with a capacity of 2.6 gigawatts have been commissioned. By the end of the year, an additional 1.5 gigawatts of capacity will be connected to the network, and the share of “green” energy will be increased to 15 percent.
In addition, 32 green projects with a total value of $19 billion and 18.6 gigawatts are being implemented.
The President noted that the Republic of Karakalpakstan plays a big role in this. According to reputable research institutes, Karakalpakstan has a potential of 680 gigawatts of solar and 120 gigawatts of wind energy.
By 2030, Karakalpakstan plans to build 10 large wind power plants with a total capacity of 10.3 gigawatts through direct investment of $11 billion. Once fully operational, these projects will generate 35 billion kilowatt-hours of green energy per year.
To ensure stability in electricity transmission, three electricity storage systems with a total capacity of 400 megawatts will be built in the Kungrad, Beruni and Karauzyak regions.
Construction on several of these projects begins today. The first is a $1.2 billion, 1-gigawatt wind farm to be built by Chinese company Sany Renewable in the Kungrad district. The second is a 200-megawatt wind power plant with a 100-megawatt electricity storage system costing $250 million, which will be created jointly with the Saudi company ACWA Power in the Beruni and Karauzyak districts.
In the future, they will produce 4 billion 200 million kilowatt-hours of green energy per year, which is equivalent to the annual consumption of 1 million 750 thousand households. As a result, about 1.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas will be saved, and emissions into the atmosphere will be reduced by almost 2 million tons.
It is noteworthy that at the same time, the construction of enterprises for the production of parts, struts and blades of wind turbines begins in the Kungrad region. As a result, the production of wind turbine parts with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts and 120 racks per year will be localized, and import-substituting products worth $100 million will be produced.
In addition, in the Nukus region, through an investment of $24 million, the production of 20 million heating radiators per year will be established.
Attention is paid to issues of improvement of cities and regions, creating decent living conditions for the population. These days, 12 projects worth $62 million are being launched in industry, agriculture, tourism and services. Two of them were opened at the ceremony addressed by the president- large shopping complexes in the Beruniysky district and the city of Nukus.
This information is based on a report by Uzdaily.
According to another Uzdaily report, over the past 7 years, 6784 projects worth 17.8 trillion soums have been implemented in the Republic of Karakalpakstan. As a result, 56000 jobs were created. During this period, goods worth 2.815 billion dollars were exported. This year, 470 projects were implemented in the republic for a total of $874 million.
This process continues continuously – in Karakalpakstan, foreign investors and entrepreneurs have formed 124 projects worth a total of $9.5 billion. The government of Uzbekistan has created 10 projects worth about 1 billion 800 million dollars.
Companies from countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia, and Spain are investing in the projects. They cover energy, heat supply, mining and chemical industries, production of building materials, services and other areas.
For example, with the UK and Saudi Arabia it is planned to improve the centralized heating system in the city of Nukus, build solar and wind power plants in the Karauzyak region with the attraction of Spanish investments, and German investors to implement projects for the processing of education and production in the Nukus region.
As a result of the implementation of these 124 projects, more than 20 thousand people will be provided with jobs.
The president of Uzbekistan has signed a decree that will benefit the rice farmers. Karakalpakstan is a rice farming region in Uzbekistan.
According to the decree, starting from 1 September 2024, rice producers will be able to receive preferential loans for growing and purchasing rice in the amount of up to 50% of the cost of the crop. Loans will be provided for a period of one year at a rate of 14%.
Farmers and dehkan farms will be able to enter into contracts with clusters for the supply of rice through the Agroplatform.
Over the next two years, the government will reimburse 20% of the cost of purchasing new seed drills and equipment for sowing rice seedlings. In this case, the equipment must be produced no earlier than one year at the time of purchase.
Special support measures are provided for rice farmers in the Khorezm [Karakalpakstan] region. They will be provided with additional subsidies, including reimbursement of costs for fuels and lubricants for growing rice – up to 1 million soums per hectare, subject to laser leveling of the land.
In addition, rice producers in the Khorezm region will be compensated for the costs of installing sprinklers, wide-spread and mobile irrigation systems, which will save water during irrigation. The subsidy amount will be 8 million soums per hectare.
Starting from the current harvest, Khorezm rice farmers will be allowed to export up to 50% of their products if the yield is 120 centners per hectare or more. /// nCa, 30 Aug. 24