At a plenary session of the Legislative Chamber on September 29, Minister of Employment and Poverty Reduction Botir Zohidov announced that out of 661,000 Uzbek citizens who returned from labor migration, 557,000 have been engaged in income-generating activities. Efforts are ongoing to employ another 70,000 returning migrants, taking into account their preferences and requests.
According to the minister, in the first four months of this year, 275,000 families were lifted out of the poverty category, and in the first half of the year, the activities of 615,000 informally employed individuals were legalized. During the reporting period, 294,000 poor families—1.3 million people—used 376,000 services aimed at increasing their incomes. Of these family members, 105,000 were placed in permanent jobs, 259,000 were involved in entrepreneurship, and another 12,000 received vocational training.
To support entrepreneurial initiatives of needy families, 2 trillion soums in loans and 265 billion soums in subsidies were allocated. In 563 mahallas in border and enclave areas, 84,000 people were lifted out of poverty through increased incomes. In cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Technologies, 49,000 children from poor families took free distance courses in IT, English, e-commerce, SMM, and graphic design. Another 125,000 children were involved in extracurricular activities.
According to official data, as of July 1, the number of employed people reached 11.6 million, an increase of 657,000 since the beginning of the year. The minister stated that 76% of the country's labor resources—16 million people—constitute the economically active population ready to work. In the first half of the year, based on a project-based approach, 469,000 people were placed in permanent jobs, and the incomes of 2.7 million people increased. In mahallas, 103,000 micro-projects were launched, providing 246,000 people with a primary or additional source of income. In 22,000 projects, 30,000 members of poor families participated as entrepreneurs or hired workers. By the end of the year, another 60,000 micro-projects are planned to be launched.
In the first half of the year, 76 trillion soums in loans were allocated to small and medium-sized businesses, of which 19 trillion soums were provided under entrepreneurship support programs. This year, 9 trillion soums were allocated from the state budget to improve the infrastructure of 1,245 mahallas and 70 districts. Construction work is underway at 3,200 sites using these funds. In addition, solar panels were installed in 2,653 households, and another 1,727 homes were renovated based on "green" standards.
The minister specifically addressed the activities of deputy hokim assistants. From February to May, senior staff of ministries and agencies, as part of working groups, traveled to the regions and organized training for deputy hokim assistants. 8,785 deputy hokim assistants underwent training, and 209 promising specialists were sent for advanced training to Japan, Turkey, China, and Russia. A new system for evaluating their activities has also been introduced, focusing on quality rather than quantity of work. According to him, the main criteria are now the creation of sustainable jobs, families with increased incomes, and the number of business entities with stable operations.
By the end of 2026, it is planned to place another 583,000 people in permanent jobs, increase the incomes of 2 million people, and legalize the activities of 661,000 informally employed individuals. The task has been set to reduce the poverty level by at least half in 37 districts and 915 mahallas with difficult socio-economic situations. According to the minister, at the end of the first half of the year, the poverty and unemployment rate in the country decreased to 4.5%.
On August 25, at a session of the Legislative Chamber, Jamshid Kuchkorov, commenting on poverty and unemployment reduction indicators, said that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev demanded a change in the approach to assessing the results of the fight against poverty. In August, the newspaper reported that nearly 1.4 million Uzbek citizens work in about 40 countries. Approximately 60% of them are in Russia. At the same time, the share of CIS countries in labor migration is decreasing, while the share of European and East Asian destinations is growing.
Source: www.gazeta.uz