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III. Economic Trends and Policies
Figure 4. Some demographic data, Uzbekistan,
1997–2007, thousands of people
The first
priority for the
Government
of Uzbekistan
is to generate
widespread and
remunerative
employment,
which can
support increases
in private
incomes and
public financial
resources
Source: State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan
urban areas will drive future economic growth and development, we
recommend that Uzbekistan devote additional resources to foster
employment-intensive sectors.
Of course, such economic development will be impossible if there
is not greater employment growth in domestic industry and services.
The income from such employment will also be needed to finance the
necessary increase in housing for the new workers who migrate to
cities.
Creating a more dynamic process of urbanization and reducing
urban poverty will have to go hand-in-hand with an industrial strategy
that is more employment-oriented. Such a strategy could encompass
a variety of measures, which could include explicitly channeling
public investment and resources into internationally competitive
employment-intensive sectors.
Such measures could also involve the use of tax and subsidies and
commercial credit to promote priority sectors or the use of public-
sector matching funds for approved private-sector investment projects
(McKinley 2007). Currently, a comprehensive Master Plan of Population
Settlement is being prepared by the Cabinet of Ministers in Uzbekistan,
but its recommendations are not vitally linked to projections of
industrial growth and employment generation, which would be crucial
for realistic planning of the urbanization process.
We thus recommend that, while striving to develop a more
comprehensive and coherent industrial policy, the government
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