President meets with young people and puts forward new initiatives

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with young people on the occasion of June 30 – Youth Day.

The Head of State warmly congratulated all the young men and women of the country on the holiday.

“From the very first days of the reforms, we identified support for young people and the pursuit of their goals and aspirations as one of the priority areas of state policy”, the President said.

In recent years, a fundamentally new system has been established in this area. Youth leaders now operate in every mahalla, and broad opportunities have been created to support the initiatives of young men and women, promote their employment, enable them to receive education and acquire professions, and help them launch entrepreneurial activities. Every Thursday, designated as Youth Day, the resources of ministries and government agencies are mobilized to study and address young people’s concerns.

As a result of the work carried out, the problems of 1.5 million young people have been resolved through the Youth Register. The number of young entrepreneurs has increased fivefold, exceeding 287,000. The number of young men and women studying foreign languages intensively has reached 3.5 million. Gifted schoolchildren and students have won 434 medals at prestigious international subject olympiads, while young athletes have secured 2,245 medals at international competitions.

The Head of State emphasized that in today’s global competition, countries’ advantages are determined primarily by knowledge, technology, and human capital.

“Bear in mind that countries now compete not by territory, but by knowledge, not by population size, but by technology, and not by natural resources, but by human capital. The new knowledge economy, based on knowledge, science, and intellectual potential, is becoming a decisive force”, the President said.

The President called on young people to become worthy heirs of their great ancestors and to lay the foundation for the Third Renaissance in New Uzbekistan.

During the meeting, the Head of State also addressed the performance of Uzbekistan’s national football team at the World Cup. It was noted that matches against strong opponents had enabled the players to gain valuable experience, while the first-ever World Cup goals scored by Abbos Fayzullayev and Eldor Shomurodov brought great joy to the nation.

“Giving in to excessive emotion, criticizing the members of the national team who defended the honor of the Motherland, and looking for someone to blame are not characteristic of our people. On the contrary, today it is more important than ever to support and encourage them”, the President said.

It was emphasized that major victories still lie ahead. To achieve them, greater attention must be paid to children’s football, and the sport must be turned into a nationwide movement. Preparations for the Asian Cup, to be held in Saudi Arabia in January next year, will begin immediately.

The President identified knowledge, a profession, and modern technologies as the most important foundations for young people to secure a worthy place in life.

To this end, the “Knowledge of the Future” ecosystem will be launched, under which 500,000 young men and women will be trained in modern professions each year. Young people wishing to open training centers will be provided with land plots and state-owned facilities on preferential terms. The necessary infrastructure will be built at the state’s expense, and interest payments on loans for the construction and equipping of such centers will also be subsidized.

A “skills voucher” will be introduced for young people who already have a profession but wish to acquire new skills. Each year, the cost of training 50,000 young people in modern professions will be covered by interest-free loans. An additional 85,000 unemployed young men and women from low-income families will receive free vocational training vouchers for private education centers. A total of 120 billion UZS will be allocated to implement this system this year alone.

Private-sector participation in the operation of technical schools will be expanded, and licensing requirements will be simplified. Beginning with the new academic year, state grants for vocational training will also be available to private technical schools. Winners of international vocational competitions and their mentors will receive cash awards.

The importance of fully leveraging the potential of more than 650,000 young people fluent in foreign languages to promote the country’s rich history, cultural heritage, tourism potential, and export opportunities internationally was emphasized. To this end, a “digital content” platform will be launched, with 20 billion UZS allocated annually to fund it.

A new system will also be introduced to work with young people studying abroad. A digital interaction platform will be launched to enable more than 14,000 young men and women enrolled at leading foreign universities to undertake practical training and internships during their holidays at ministries, hokimiyats, and state-owned and private companies in the country. The private sector will also be allowed to send young people to study at prestigious foreign universities through the El-Yurt Umidi Foundation.

The President announced that for entrepreneurs hiring university graduates, the personal income and social tax rates applicable to young specialists will be set at 1 percent for one year. This measure will provide an important incentive to employ nearly 200,000 graduates.

A “Guaranteed First Step” package will be introduced to support young people without parental care, those returning from military service, labor migration, or serving a sentence, as well as young men and women with disabilities. Students who mentor disengaged young people under the “Student – Mentor” program will also be encouraged.

In addition, a “Youth Mini-Franchise” program will be launched. Young men and women purchasing franchises from local brands will be eligible for interest-free loans of up to 300 million UZS through the Youth Entrepreneurship Fund. A total of 500 billion UZS will be allocated to implement these programs.

Youth hubs will be established to provide young people with one-stop access to services for vocational and foreign-language training, employment, and entrepreneurship. This practice will first be introduced in Surkhandarya region and then gradually rolled out in other regions.

To strengthen confidence in young people in public administration, the TOP-100 program will be implemented across five areas. The winners will receive awards and be recommended for managerial positions. Each ministry and sector will select talented young people in its field and send them for internships at international organizations. A plan will be developed to enable 2,000 young people to undertake such internships each year.

The Uzbekistan Youth League platform will be launched to encourage young men and women and unite them around a common goal. Within its framework, young people’s academic, professional, entrepreneurial, scientific, and social activities will be assessed. Those who achieve strong results will receive grants, tuition discounts, skills vouchers, preferential loans, opportunities for internships abroad, inclusion in the talent pool, and mortgage benefits.

The Banking and Finance Academy will be designated a think tank for youth entrepreneurship development. Academy students will prepare ready-to-implement business projects in the regions, and the Youth Entrepreneurship Fund will offer these projects to young people on favorable terms. The Fund will invest up to 5 billion UZS in projects that generate high revenues and create many jobs. This system will enable at least 300,000 young people to start their own businesses.

New tasks have also been identified to support innovative start-ups.

“We plan to grow the economy to more than $240 billion by 2030. Achieving this goal requires innovative start-ups that will bring new ideas to every sector”, the Head of State said.

Over the past nine years, the domestic start-up ecosystem has grown fifteenfold, exceeding $4 billion, and more than 1,200 promising start-up projects have emerged. From now on, every minister, sectoral leader, and hokim will implement the “1,000 Problems – 1,000 Solutions from Young People” project. The Youth Affairs Agency will invest up to 1 billion UZS in the 100 best projects in business, information technology, and the creative economy.

Opportunities for young people in information technology and artificial intelligence will expand. The first supercomputer cluster has been commissioned at the Digital Government Center, and its capacity will be tripled next year. Artificial intelligence laboratories will be established at 20 universities this year. By using these facilities free of charge, young people will develop solutions to problems in the regions and across various sectors.

More than 20,000 well-paying jobs for young people will be created by establishing new IT parks. Under the “My First Computer” program, 10,000 young people from low-income families will receive assistance with purchasing laptops.

The dual education system will be expanded for students in information technology and artificial intelligence. A Muhammad al-Khwarizmi State Scholarship and a Women Engineers Scholarship for talented young women will be established. The cash award of 1 billion UZS for winners of international olympiads will also be extended to winners of international artificial intelligence olympiads.

To strengthen national identity among young people and increase the share of national content in the digital space, incubation centers for computer and mobile game developers will be established at IT parks. Each year, the state will place orders to develop at least 20 computer and mobile games that reflect the national spirit.

“No young man or woman should be left out of the opportunities we are creating for young people”, the President said.

To this end, the “Love for the Motherland – Social Initiatives” competition and the Qanot (“Wing”) project, which aim to support children in social risk groups, will be launched. An “Initiatives Office” will be established to transform ideas submitted during the Youth Initiatives Marathon into practical projects. A total of 50 billion UZS will be allocated to implement these measures.

It was also noted that crimes related to the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances pose a serious threat to the future of young people and to the nation’s gene pool.

“Under no circumstances will we allow this evil to spread among our young people, and we will not stop until it is completely eradicated. Drug addiction deprives a person of the most precious things – health, willpower, reason, dreams, and purpose in life. Remember: life is given to a person only once. Be uncompromising in the fight against this evil, and devote every minute of your life to good deeds”, the Head of State said.

Addressing parents as well, the President emphasized that the solid foundation for a child’s comprehensive development and bright future is laid first and foremost within the family. The Head of State urged parents to be even more attentive and responsible in raising their children amid today’s rapidly changing and challenging conditions.

An open dialogue with young people was also held during the meeting. Young men and women shared their proposals and initiatives.

In conclusion, the Head of State called on young people to boldly pursue ambitious goals and persistently acquire knowledge, professional skills, and modern technologies.

“Your energy, thirst for knowledge, and desire for innovation always inspire me. Boldly pursue ambitious goals, study, acquire new knowledge, master modern professions and technologies, do not fear difficulties, and do not avoid hard work! Remember that behind you stand your parents, who raised you with great hopes, and your teachers and mentors, who gave you knowledge, guidance, and a profession. And you have a President who will always support you, believes in you, and will continue to stand by you”, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.