UzLand.Uz
December 15

"The US places a great value on Uzbekistan as an economical and political partner," US Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, Alan Larson told reporters at the end of his one-day visit to the country on Friday.

Mr. Larson’s visit to Uzbekistan was one among many meetings of the US representatives with Uzbek officials during the last 6 months. Alan Larson met with the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Macroeconomics and Statistics Rustam Azimov.

During his meeting with Karimov, Larson raised topics of broadening the areas of collaboration between Uzbekistan and the US and extending economic reforms in the country. Also, two officials discussed reconstruction and establishment of political stability in Afghanistan.

“We appreciate the role of Uzbekistan in the war against terrorism,” Alan Larsen said. “Karimov has offered some comments on political situation in Afghanistan and I offered some comments on my role as a fundraiser for achieving economical stability in Afghanistan.”

Mr. Larsen stressed the importance for Uzbekistan to broaden the collaboration with the International Monetary Fund and other international financial institutions saying that it would help to assure foreign investors in reliability of the country as a source of economic benefits. He also highlighted the possibility of American private investment corporations coming to Uzbekistan in the near future.

Alan Larsen offered his take on development of agricultural sector in Uzbekistan and said that it was very important to develop private ownership of farms in order to increase productivity the sector.

---