INTERFAX
September 30

Uzbekistan has a vast investment market and is working to improve the country's investment climate, Uzbek President Islam Karimov has stated.

"Uzbekistan attaches great importance to cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank and hopes it will bring good results," Karimov said in a message greeting the Islamic Development Bank's investment conference being held in Tashkent.

The conference brought together more than a hundred representatives of the IDB's member-states. It was opened by Uzbek Prime Minister and Chairman of the Agency for Foreign Economic Ties Elyer Ganiyev.

"The conference is the presentation of Uzbekistan's investment potential for the IDB and its members, and will undoubtedly create conditions for full-scale, effective cooperation," he said.

The conference's agenda includes the development of the republic's oil and gas sector, tourism infrastructure, transport and telecommunications, and the production of consumer goods from local raw materials. Uzbekistan became a member of the IDB in September.

---