JAPAN EXPANDS LENDING TO UZBEKISTAN.

The Japanese Export-Import Bank and government plan to extend three further major credits to Uzbekistan this year: $75 million to expand and modernize the Ferghana oil refinery (as part of a $150 million investment in that refinery, the other half of that amount being supplied by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development); $70 million for other investments in the fuel and energy sector; and $90 million to develop the foreign trade sector. (16) Uzbekistan has already received a $131 million credit from the Bank of Tokyo earlier this month to upgrade communications in the Aral region and a $140 million credit from Japan’s Ex-Im Bank in June to modernize the country’s telecommunications network. Also this month Japan announced a $166 million loan to Kazakhstan as part of an IMF/WB financing package to support economic reforms in that country, and has discussed investment in Kyrgyzstan. Japan is emerging as a major source of foreign capital in Central Asia, with Uzbekistan the leading beneficiary thus far.

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