12.02.2026

On February 12, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a meeting on the socio-economic development of the Andijan region and priority tasks for 2026.

At the beginning of the meeting, it was noted that Andijan is the most densely populated region in the country. More than 3.5 million people live in the region, and about 80,000 children are born annually. Given limited land resources, every hectare, project, and investment must generate high added value and sustainable employment. It was emphasized that this constitutes a key priority for the region’s leadership.

By the end of 2025, the gross regional product reached 107.7 trillion soums, reflecting growth of 6.8 percent. Industrial output increased by 7.2 percent, the service sector expanded by 15.1 percent, and agriculture grew by 4.7 percent.

In 2026, it is planned to ensure economic and industrial growth of 8 percent, service sector growth of 16.3 percent, while agricultural growth of 5.9 percent. The volume of foreign investment is planned to increase from $2.5 billion in 2025 to $3.5 billion in 2026, and exports from $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion.

While 383,000 people were employed in 2025, in 2026 it is planned to employ 489,500 residents, reducing the unemployment rate to 3.6 percent and the poverty level to 2.4 percent.

The task has been set to transform the Asaka, Altynkul, Khodjaabad, and Shakhrikhan districts and the city of Andijan into territories free from unemployment and poverty. In districts with difficult conditions, Buston, Pakhtaabad, and Ulugnor, the poverty level must be reduced by at least half.

It was noted that this year, projects worth $798 million are planned to be launched in the region.

In particular, three industrial micro-centers specializing in the production of leather and footwear products, building materials, and equipment will be established in the Asaka, Bulakbashi, and Shakhrikhan districts. In 110 rural settlements, as well as in 26 border and remote mahallas, projects will be implemented to process agricultural products, establish small cold storage facilities, and develop micro-enterprises.

Special attention was given to the inefficient use of more than 100 hectares of vacant land in the Ipak Yuli free economic zone in the Andijan district. Given limited land resources, it is essential to maximize the use of sites with existing infrastructure to accommodate high value-added projects and create thousands of jobs.

Significant attention was paid to the development of agriculture. This year, to increase yields in cotton farming, it is planned to expand the areas under foreign varieties and introduce the advanced "76x10" sowing scheme, as well as purchase 472 units of new machinery. Two thousand hectares of low-yielding old orchards will be converted into intensive ones, and 6.8 thousand hectares of land will be returned to economic circulation.

As a new approach, homestead farming schools will be established: in Altynkul district for floriculture, in Izbaskan for seedling cultivation, in Asaka for greenhouse farming, in Kurgantepa for vegetable production, and in Bulakbashi for viticulture.

In 2025, the region was visited by 460,000 foreign and 1.8 million domestic tourists. This year, it is planned to increase the number of foreign tourists to 700,000 and domestic tourists to 2.5 million.

For this purpose, a dedicated directorate will be established for the development of the Shirmonbulok tourist center in the Bulakbashi district, the Imam Ota tourist center in the Khodjaabad district, and the tourist zone in Khanabad. In 91 mahallas located along the central streets of cities and districts, trade, entertainment, and recreational facilities will be developed.

It was noted that the housing issue in Andijan remains particularly pressing. This year, 54 apartment buildings are planned for construction in the Yangi Uzbekistan residential areas, along with another 158 buildings in other locations.

The implementation of the “ready-for-construction land” system will reduce project launch timelines from 120 to 30 days. In Jalakuduk district, a pilot project for modern housing construction based on this model will be launched.

The region has 11 higher education institutions with over 94,000 students and 56 technical colleges where 46,000 students are receiving vocational training. Measures have been identified to increase the scientific potential of universities and expand the coverage of dual education.

An initiative has been supported to attract leading private educational organizations to teach foreign languages in medical technical colleges and to facilitate the annual employment of more than 4,000 young people in European countries.

To support young people, it has been proposed to provide subsidies of up to 41 million soums from the Yoshlar Daftari fund to talented children from families not included in the social register, enabling them to implement initiatives in sports, culture, and the arts. The President instructed that this mechanism be launched beginning with the Andijan region.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Head of state emphasized that the implementation of the outlined tasks must lead to concrete and tangible changes in the lives of Andijan residents and issued relevant instructions to the responsible officials.