Creative potential of New Uzbekistan

Modern and comfortable houses, convenient infrastructure. Creation of conditions for a comfortable life of people. This is how you can describe the Yangi Uzbekiston massifs, built on the ideas and personal initiative of the head of state, and clearly demonstrating that the honor and dignity of a person are above all.

In Uzbekistan, which is laying the foundation for building the third Renaissance, creative processes are part of the transformations in the spirit of the main idea of ​​the brightest and dearest holiday - the 31st anniversary of the independence of the republic "In New Uzbekistan, the dignity of a person, the interests of the people are the highest value." For in a country where a person, a people are valued, such good deeds will never stop. On the contrary, they will consistently continue, with renewed strength and energy.
It will not be an exaggeration to say that the Decree of the President "On measures for the construction of the Yangi Uzbekston massifs and ensuring the socio-economic development of the regions" dated December 9, 2021 is from the category of documents that bring the development of our sphere to a new level. Because, as part of the implementation of this Decree, the first stone was laid in the construction of the Yangi Uzbekiston massifs in the Baghdad district of the Fergana region. And this year, the scale of work is expanding. In other words, the ideas of good aspirations towards good goals are being widely implemented throughout the republic.
On the Yangi Uzbekiston blocks, multi-storey residential buildings, engineering and transport communications, social facilities, production, trade and services are being built in a complex manner. At the same time, land plots for the construction of multi-storey residential buildings are sold to business entities through an electronic online auction based on the right to lease. Land plots adjacent to multi-storey residential buildings after the completion of housing construction are allocated by the relevant decision of the local executive authority to the owners of multi-storey residential buildings on the basis of the right of permanent use. At the same time, land plots for the construction of production, trade and service facilities created on the arrays are sold to business entities in the prescribed manner through an electronic online auction on the basis of ownership and lease.
As a result, this year alone, 619 houses for 21,312 apartments were built in 29 mahallas. Next to them, 18 secondary schools, 24 preschools and 15 medical institutions will be built. This means that the appropriate infrastructure is being built for the residents of the Yangi Uzbekiston massifs.
In a word, the Yangi Uzbekiston massifs are being built up in a complex manner. This requirement has been repeatedly repeated by the head of state, and we, the builders, are in great demand for its implementation. It should be noted that since this year, the cost of housing has significantly decreased due to the reduction from 20 to 15 percent of the tax on the profits of cement producers and by half the tax on the use of land, as well as the extension for another year of the exemption period for cement imports.
According to statistics, about 300,000 marriages are registered in the country every year. The population is expected to rise to 38 million in the coming year. With this in mind, the expansion of housing construction is noteworthy. The Yangi Uzbekiston massifs being built in each region occupy an important place. Over the next five years, over 250,000 families in such areas will be provided with housing. From which it follows that the President pays great attention to the construction industry. Including the construction of massifs "Yangi Uzbekiston" is taken under careful control. During their construction, a requirement is made to create the necessary infrastructure, which indicates how highly human dignity and the interests of the people are valued in our country. After all, a home is a small home. People deserve to live freely and happily in their homeland.
The sphere develops in the spirit of the times
There are many parameters that determine the level of development of the state. Among them, their place and importance in the construction industry. Indeed, only in a country that develops peacefully and dynamically, sets high goals for itself and thinks about the future, much attention is paid to the construction industry. Uzbekistan is such a state.
Now high-rise buildings are being erected in cities in every region of the country. The construction process not only changed the appearance of cities and villages, but also filled people's lives with new content. As part of targeted programs to provide the population with affordable and comfortable housing, exemplary multi-storey buildings, cultural and art centers, sports facilities, medical institutions and other social infrastructure facilities are being built.
By the relevant Decree of the President, since 2017, the second Sunday of August has been celebrated as the Day of Construction Workers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which indicates the recognition of the work of builders and the duration of ongoing reforms.

In recent years, many residential buildings, educational institutions, health resorts, large factories, roads and bridges have been built in the country. At the same time, the production of local raw materials for the sphere has been mastered. As a result, construction is provided by local products. Previously, there were no such opportunities.
Four or five years ago, when they started talking about building a city in our country, no one believed. And today, not only in the capital, but also in the regions, such modern towns have been built.
Creative work continues in every area. In Uzbekistan, the qualifications of employees in the sphere have improved, a construction industry has been formed that is capable of implementing large projects and quickly building skyscrapers with high quality. That is, the construction sector in New Uzbekistan keeps pace with the requirements of the time.
According to statistics, the volume of construction work in our country in 2010 amounted to 8.2 trillion soums, in 2018 - 51.1 trillion, in 2020 - 88.1 trillion, and in May this year - 45 trillion soums. This means that from year to year the volume of construction work in the republic is increasing, and the sphere of architecture and construction is turning into one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy.
Cardinal changes are also taking place due to the consistent implementation of the Obod Qishloq and Obod Mahalla programs.
As part of the Obod Qishloq program, master plans are being developed for 413 mahallas located in remote regions with difficult natural and climatic conditions. Here, for the first time, private design firms were involved in the development of urban planning documents. A program for the preparation of master plans for cities, villages and auls has been formed, designed for 2023-2027. According to this program, it is planned to draw up projects to amend the general plans of 17 cities, 229 towns, to develop 200 master plans and general plans for 649 villages (villages).
Rapid Growth Requires Further Improvement
The rapid growth of the construction industry encourages reform in line with modern standards. In this regard, the adoption of 22 documents of the President and 21 government decrees aimed at developing the construction industry deserves attention.
A new edition of the Urban Planning Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan was adopted. By the Decree of the President of November 27, 2020, the Strategy for Modernization, Accelerated and Innovative Development of the Construction Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2021-2025 and the Roadmap for its implementation were approved.
Thus, the Strategy states: “The basis of the socio-economic development of the country is the formation of a safe and comfortable environment for human life.
The construction industry plays a key role in creating the material and technical base of all sectors of the economy and meeting the needs of the population in comfortable housing, social and engineering infrastructure services, as well as cultural leisure.
The state policy in the field of construction is aimed at increasing the potential of the industry through the effective use of innovations, investments, labor and material resources in order to ensure the successful implementation of programs for the socio-economic development of the country, regions and industries.”
From these words it is not difficult to understand the vector of development of the construction industry for the next five years in our country.
As part of the implementation of these documents, measures and reforms have been implemented, and certain results have been achieved. For example, a draft resolution of the President “On measures to improve the activities of the customer service in the field of capital construction of the republic” was developed in order to streamline the activities of the customer service and introduce a new mechanism for interaction between customer services and engineering in the construction industry. According to the project, it is planned to develop the activities of engineering companies at khokimiyats by eliminating customer services in the ministries of the social sphere.
Permission was given to involve the private sector in the implementation of technical control at construction sites in order to streamline the issues of supervision over the quality of work and the timeliness of commissioning of facilities.
The processes of construction design and examination of project documentation have been revised, transferred to a transparent electronic format. These works are carried out by the State Unitary Enterprise "Expertization of urban planning documentation" under the Ministry of Construction of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The practice of submitting paper documents to the examination bodies has been completely abandoned. As a result, design and estimate documents are submitted online for examination. To date, about 45,000 projects of facilities have passed an examination in this format, which has saved more than 11 trillion soums. Thanks to the practice of issuing certificates to legal entities engaged in the field of examination, a healthy competitive environment has been formed in the system.
Based on the degree of complexity of objects, the system for issuing expert opinions is differentiated. An electronic rating of expert organizations has been established. A mechanism has been created for conducting certification of experts, as well as issuing conclusions, differentiated by the degree of complexity of projects.
A draft regulation on the rating of legal entities and individuals involved in the examination of design estimates and urban planning documentation has been developed. This practice has a number of advantages. In particular, according to the draft, a regulation on maintaining a rating of expert organizations and expert specialists is approved.
Starting from the fourth quarter of this year, due to the integration of the National Classifier of Building Resources into the databases of the relevant state bodies, manufacturers and service providers, an "Electronic catalog of current prices for material and technical resources" will be created. Here, by integrating electronic databases of the tax, customs and statistical state committees, other departments such as the Uzbek Agency for Technical Regulation under the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade and the Uzbek Republican Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange, it will be possible to quickly regulate prices for building materials. At the same time, thanks to the link to the classifier and the electronic catalog of product manufacturers and service providers, it will be possible to regulate their current prices.
In construction, control is very important. Therefore, special attention is paid to streamlining the control system in the sphere. The result of these efforts was the adoption of a new regulation on the registration of facilities for the start of construction work and the commissioning of completed ones, the introduction of the information system "Construction Control" at the facilities. To date, over 26,000 objects have been taken under control through this system. In addition, the IS "State Control in Construction" is being formed.
The National Information System "Transparent Construction" and the Geographic Information System (geoportal) "State Urban Cadastre of the Republic of Uzbekistan" were put into operation.
Today, through the geoportal, citizens and entrepreneurs can freely get acquainted with 825 documents in urban planning (214 general plans, 595 projects aimed at organizing architectural planning of territories, 16 projects of detailed planning of territories). Every year, developed according to targeted programs, approved urban planning documents will be gradually introduced on the geoportal. The final information about the public services provided by the Ministry of Construction is also reflected on the geoportal. As a result, the interconnection of the public services provided by us is ensured and registers of projects, objects of urban planning activities, subjects of urban planning activities are automatically formed.
On the basis of the National Information System "Transparent Construction", the "Tender" platform was developed, integrated into the information systems of state bodies. This electronic tender platform is worthy of attention because it eliminates the human factor when choosing. The system, based on the rating of organizations and their commercial offers, independently determines the contractor by the method of automatic evaluation. 9461 tenders have been held through the platform to date. Thanks to the selection of the most optimal offers, the objects saved 1.17 trillion soums. In the future, design organizations will also be determined through this system.
Starting from this year, as part of the improvement of the rating system of construction contractors, 60 parameters for determining the rating were revised anew, then reduced to 32. At the same time, the main attention was paid to the material and technical database of organizations.
At the same time, an electronic system for licensing urban planning activities has also been put into operation. As a result, the possibility of obtaining a license without visiting the ministry has been created, which sharply reduces corruption risks. It should be noted that six types of public services in our area have been completely converted into electronic form. From January 21 of this year to this day, over 122 thousand applications have been considered through the system and decisions have been made on these issues.

Knowledgeable and experienced staff is a vital need
The growing expansion of the scope of construction work naturally increases the need for knowledgeable, experienced designers and architects. Also, time itself requires the involvement of innovative products in the construction industry. In this regard, the introduction in the ministry of the position of chief architect with the status of first deputy minister is noteworthy. In addition, project offices have been opened in the regions of the republic, the first deputies of the khokims of the regions and the chief architects of the regions will be responsible for them.
At present, the main universities in the field of construction - the Tashkent and Samarkand State Institutes of Architecture and Construction - have been transferred to the system of the ministry. Turkish specialists were appointed their rectors in order to introduce them to the top ratings and organize a new system of student education.
If in 2017 about three thousand applicants were admitted to these institutes, then in 2021 the admission has grown to four thousand. Last year, over two thousand bachelors and 260 masters graduated from the institutes, they work in different areas of the construction industry.
In these educational institutions, in cooperation with the universities of Germany, Poland and Russia, six joint foreign study programs have been developed, according to which about 200 students study at partner universities.
In general, there are twelve technical schools and two colleges in the system of the ministry. Students do practical work in 425 construction organizations.
Last academic year, 2,050 students were trained in 25 professions and specialties and became specialists in various areas of construction. Nine training centers for the training of qualified specialists have been organized at the technical schools of the ministry's system. Each of them annually helps 300 unemployed people to get a specialty in 16 professions. The institutes organized advanced training courses for employees in the field of architecture and construction.
According to the Decree of the President "On measures to radically improve the qualifications assessment system and provide the labor market with qualified personnel" dated December 31, 2020, centers for assessing qualifications in priority sectors of the economy are being created in the regions, while using the material and technical base and experienced specialists of professional educational institutions of the Ministry construction. These centers will assess professional competence at the level of labor market requirements.
Work is underway to transform the institutions of our department into universities in order to occupy high places in international rankings of higher educational institutions. Technoparks, incubation centers, centers for young architects and engineers, technology transfer offices and research centers will be organized at universities.
Higher scientific schools will also be organized on the basis of world experience (Councils for studying in the magistracy, doctoral studies and conferring scientific titles). Their complete independence in the academic, organizational, managerial and financial spheres will be ensured. From 2023/2024, entrance exams to these universities will be held twice a year in accordance with international standards. Starting from this academic year, the phased implementation of the Digital University system will begin.
As noted above, the creation of decent conditions for people to organize a comfortable life is a priority goal of the ongoing reforms in Uzbekistan. Renewal, wherever it occurs, must serve man. And in the field of construction, all work is aimed at this, which places a great responsibility on us, employees of this area.

Batyr Zakirov.
Minister of Construction of the Republic of Uzbekistan.