The ceremony held in this regard was attended by representatives of state and public organizations, elders and the intelligentsia, young people.

The President of Uzbekistan congratulated the people of the country on the upcoming Navruz holiday and the holy month of Ramadan. Noting the ancient history of Tashkent, he stressed the leading role of the capital in all spheres of life of the country.

“Based on the requests of the population, we have carried out a large-scale construction and landscaping activity in Tashkent in recent years. Now it’s time to think about the prospects for its development. Today we have gathered to discuss the future of Tashkent”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

In particular, the number of companies operating in Tashkent has doubled over the past 6 years. As a result of improving the business environment and creating favorable conditions for entrepreneurs, $26 billion was invested.

Construction has intensified, new houses, modern enterprises and structures have been erected. Schools for 30 thousand places, kindergartens for 20 thousand places, medical institutions for 2 thousand beds, parks with an area of 200 hectares, more than 10 large sports complexes have also been built.

14 metro stations were put into operation to develop public transport in the city, and the daily passenger traffic exceeded 1 million people. 5 more stations will be commissioned by the end of the year.

Today, the number of people living and working in Tashkent is 4-5 million people. Therefore, there is a need in the city for the construction of multi-storey buildings for more than 20 thousand apartments, more than 40 schools, kindergartens, polyclinics.

The President stressed that in determining the future of the capital, it is necessary to think many years ahead.

“It is necessary to think about the sustainable development of our capital and clearly define plans for at least 15-20 years ahead. A well-thought-out policy of urbanization has a great impact on the living conditions, economic development, mood and culture of people” the Head of state noted.

Therefore, together with specialists from the UK, Singapore and Türkiye, a draft general plan of Tashkent until 2045 was developed. It provides for the creation of favorable conditions for the population, the implementation of construction outside the city, ensuring the cleanliness of the environment, preserving the architectural appearance of Tashkent.

It is planned to gradually expand the territory of the capital at the expense of the border areas of Tashkent region, and to build New Tashkent between the Chirchiq and Qorasuv rivers. After discussion with people’s deputies and representatives of the public, the most optimal of the three draft options was chosen.

Within the framework of the New Tashkent project, favorable conditions for the residence of 1 million people with the provision of appropriate infrastructure will be created on the territory of 6 thousand hectares. In particular, at the first stage, apartment buildings for 60 thousand residents, 30 schools, 20 kindergartens, a multidisciplinary hospital and 5 family polyclinics will be built. The University of New Uzbekistan, a new building of the National Library, a theater, schools of creativity, trade and service facilities will also be located here.

Modern approaches to urbanization will be used in the implementation of the project. For example, the transport system will be reorganized. Public transport in New Tashkent will consist only of electric buses. At the same time, based on the principle of a green and safe city, comfortable conditions will be created for the free movement of pedestrians and cyclists.

Underground parking lots for 100 thousand places will be built. 14 modern tunnels and 7 bridges over the Chirchiq and Qorasuv rivers will be built for automobile traffic. All electrical, communication networks, gas and water pipes will be laid underground.

For the first time in Central Asia, a regeneration station will be built that will generate electricity, heat buildings in autumn and winter, and cool them in summer.

In the New Tashkent project, water consumption will be reduced by 2 times due to water-saving technologies. Wastewater will be processed based on modern technologies and used for irrigation and technical purposes.

200 thousand highly paid jobs based on innovative technologies will be created in the new city. For this purpose, new technology parks, an IT park, educational and medical clusters will be created.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev laid a capsule marking the beginning of the construction of New Tashkent.

“On the eve of the bright holiday, we are starting construction with good hopes. This will be a new page in the history of the New Uzbekistan”, the President said.

Additional energy is needed for the new city, as well as for the capital. In Tashkent, electricity consumption has increased by 30 percent over the past 6 years, reaching almost 8 billion kilowatt-hours. This need is growing every day.

Therefore, a large-scale program was adopted to radically improve the power supply system of the city of Tashkent. 4 photovoltaic stations with a total capacity of 2,400 megawatts will be built for the needs of the capital. The first of them, with a capacity of 400 megawatts, is being built in Qibray district.

An agreement was also reached with China’s CEEC-Gezhouba and China Dating Overseas Investment companies to implement 3 more projects. These are stations with a capacity of 700 MW in Yuqorichirchiq district, 1 thousand MW in Akhangaran district and 300 MW in Buka district of Tashkent region.

The launch of the implementation of these solar power plants took place at the ceremony.

More than $2 billion of direct investments have been attracted to these projects. By the end of the year, the first 300 MW of capacity will be put into operation. After reaching full capacity, the stations will generate 6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which will cover more than half of the needs of the capital.

At the same time, it was announced that high-voltage networks will be built in Tashkent, and outdated transformers and electrical networks will be replaced.

“All the goals, plans and programs that we are implementing in our capital are for our people, so that today they can live better than yesterday, and tomorrow – better than today”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

As it was noted at the ceremony, New Tashkent will become a truly eco-friendly city. The Tashkent Green Belt project will begin here. A Central park will be created on an area of 420 hectares, where 200 thousand trees will be planted.

The Head of state, together with representatives of the public, planted the first trees on the site of the park. A conversation took place with representatives of the diplomatic corps who participated in the event.