President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev chairs a videoconference to discuss measures for ensuring employment and meaningful organization of youth leisure.

There more than 18 million young people in Uzbekistan under 30, which is about 55 percent of the population. They are the support and hope of the country’s people in the promotion and implementation of modern requirements, the development of spheres and industries.

In his Address to the Oliy Majlis and his speech at Uzbekistan Youth Forum, the Head of the state put forward important ideas and initiatives in the interests of the younger generation. 2021 has been declared the Year of Supporting Youth and Strengthening Population Health.

The urgent tasks for the implementation of the proposals set out in the Address and at the mentioned forum, the introduction of a new system of working with youth was discussed at today’s meeting.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted the need for organizing this work in two important directions. The first is to support youth entrepreneurship, provide young people with work through vocational training, and the second – to organize meaningful leisure time for young people.

The official unemployment rate among 18-30-year-olds is 17 percent in the country. The national working group is studying the proposals of young people to systematically address the unemployment issue. These studies show that many gaps remain in vocational training, employment, and credit for young people. Many problems arise in the system of meaningful organization of youth's free time. The material and technical base of the majority of cultural centers, parks and sports complexes is unsatisfactory, training centers and sections work “for the show”.

Priorities for addressing these problems in the context of districts and cities were indicated at the meeting. Thus, deputy hokims for economics, investments and agriculture were appointed responsible for employment issues;

heads of territorial divisions of the State Tax Committee, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and commercial banks – for attracting young people to entrepreneurship;

deputy hokims for youth issues – for the meaningful organization of youth leisure;

district prosecutors, heads of internal affairs and defense departments – for working with unorganized youth, crime prevention, and fostering feelings of patriotism.

The need was noted for training 500,000 young people in professions and entrepreneurship. Instructions were given to increase the number of traditional or distance courses in districts and cities, to train unemployed youth with the help of this system in professional and entrepreneurial skills and to ensure their employment.

The tasks of equipping the “Ishga Markhamat” monocenters and vocational colleges, developing professional standards and improving the qualifications of trainers have been determined.

It was noted that within the framework of the “Youth: 1+1” program, it is necessary to assign young people to entrepreneurs, develop their business skills, provide them with preferential loans and help start their own business. The Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade has been instructed to create local youth zones for industry and business.

The meeting continues.

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