Shavkat Mirziyoyev Chairs Meeting on Andijan’s Socio-Economic Development, Sets Ambitious Targets for 2026

Tashkent, The Gulf Observer: On February 12, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a high-level meeting dedicated to the socio-economic development of Andijan region and priority tasks for 2026, outlining comprehensive measures aimed at accelerating growth, reducing poverty, and improving living standards.

It was noted that Andijan is the most densely populated region of Uzbekistan, with over 3.5 million residents and approximately 80,000 children born annually. In view of limited land resources, the President stressed that every hectare, project, and investment must generate high added value and sustainable employment, describing this as a central task for regional authorities.

According to the 2025 results, Andijan’s gross regional product reached 107.7 trillion UZS, reflecting a 6.8 percent increase. Industrial output grew by 7.2 percent, services by 15.1 percent, and agriculture by 4.7 percent.

For 2026, the region aims to achieve 8 percent growth in the economy and industry, 16.3 percent growth in services, and 5.9 percent growth in agriculture. Foreign investment is projected to rise from $2.5 billion in 2025 to $3.5 billion in 2026, while exports are expected to increase from $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion.

Employment creation remains a priority. While 383,000 jobs were generated in 2025, authorities have been tasked with creating 489,500 jobs in 2026, reducing unemployment to 3.6 percent and lowering poverty to 2.4 percent. The districts of Asaka, Oltinkul, Khojaabad, Shakhrikhan, and the city of Andijan are to become territories free from unemployment and poverty. In more challenging districts—Bustan, Pakhtaabad, and Ulugnor—poverty rates must be cut by at least half.

Projects worth $798 million are scheduled for launch this year. Three micro-industrial centers focusing on leather and footwear production, construction materials, and equipment manufacturing will be established in Asaka, Buloqboshi, and Shakhrikhan districts. Agricultural processing projects, small cold storage facilities, and micro-production initiatives will be implemented across 110 rural settlements and 26 border and remote mahallas.

The President also addressed the inefficient use of over 100 hectares of vacant land in the “Ipak Yuli” Free Economic Zone in Andijan district, calling for optimal utilization of plots with existing infrastructure to host high-value projects and create thousands of jobs.

Agricultural development received significant attention. Plans include expanding foreign cotton varieties, introducing the advanced “76×10” planting scheme, and acquiring 472 units of new machinery. Two thousand hectares of low-yield orchards will be converted into intensive ones, while 6.8 thousand hectares will be returned to economic use. Specialized household farming schools will be established in various districts to promote floriculture, seedling cultivation, greenhouse farming, vegetable growing, and viticulture.

In tourism, Andijan hosted 460,000 foreign and 1.8 million domestic visitors in 2025. The targets for 2026 are 700,000 foreign and 2.5 million domestic tourists. To support this growth, dedicated directorates will develop the “Shirmonbuloq” tourist center in Buloqboshi, the “Imam Ota” tourist center in Khojaabad, and the tourist zone in Khanabad. Trade, entertainment, and recreational facilities will also be developed in 91 mahallas linked to central urban streets.

Housing remains a pressing issue. This year, 54 apartment buildings will be constructed in “New Uzbekistan” residential areas, alongside 158 additional buildings in other locations. The introduction of a “construction-ready land” system is expected to reduce project launch timelines from 120 to 30 days, with a pilot to begin in Jalaquduq district.

The region’s education sector includes 11 higher education institutions with over 94,000 students and 56 technical colleges enrolling 46,000 students. Measures were identified to enhance scientific capacity and expand dual education programs. The President supported initiatives to attract advanced private institutions for foreign-language instruction in medical and technical colleges and to facilitate the annual employment of more than 4,000 young people in European countries.

To further support youth, subsidies of up to 41 million UZS from the “Yoshlar Daftari” fund will be provided to talented children from families not listed in the social registry, enabling them to pursue initiatives in sports, culture, and the arts. The President instructed that this mechanism be introduced, beginning with Andijan region.

Concluding the meeting, President Mirziyoyev emphasized that the successful implementation of the outlined measures must bring tangible improvements to the lives of Andijan residents and issued corresponding directives to responsible officials.