World Bank Document

C. Relevance to Higher Level Objectives 
13. 
The proposed AMP is consistent with the GoU’s Development Strategy for 2017-2021. The main economic 
reform priorities under the Development Strategy focus on achieving high and sustained rates of inclusive economic 
growth and job creation and improving public service quality and efficiency. Focus areas include improved economic 
competitiveness and export-oriented growth, industrial diversification, and the reduction in the role of the state in favor 
of private sector and market-led production. The Development Strategy also sets out intentions to modernize agriculture 
to help ensure food security, while encouraging the use of drought-resistant and otherwise climate-resilient crops 
(reducing water consumption and building resilience to climate change). 
14. 
The project will support an ambitious agricultural reform strategy to transition to a market-oriented agriculture 
and will address key constraints for modernization of the agriculture sector. Following more than a year of 
deliberations, the President of Uzbekistan announced in October 2019 the Agricultural Strategy to modernize agriculture. 
At its heart is a redefinition of the state’s role and a shift to market-oriented, inclusive, and private sector-led agriculture. 
The Agricultural Strategy emphasizes reforms to: (i) strengthen the transparency of land allocation and land tenure 
security; (ii) eliminate the state production system for cotton and wheat, while attracting private investments in 
agriculture; (iii) shift agricultural public expenditures from subsidies to public goods; (iv) invest in the agricultural 
knowledge and innovation system; (v) enhance the management of soils and water; and (iv) collect and disseminate 
better data and information. It recognizes the structural and policy weaknesses of Uzbekistan’s agriculture and prioritizes 
public investments in quality, reliability, safety, and logistics, while creating space for the private sector to benefit from 
public investments and generate profits and jobs.