President Islam Karimov made an official statement that announces an upcoming 2009 year as “The Year of Rural Development and Well-being”. In his speech in the meeting dedicated to the 16th anniversary of adoption of Constitution of Uzbekistan, President Karimov gave reasons to this choice.

Indeed, all people residing on this land feed themselves and live at the expense of produce grown on this land, sufficiency and prosperity of our nation are created above all by hands of our hard-working dekhkans. In a word, every human being, wherever he lives or wherever he works, I believe, permanently feels and realizes that his life and the life of his family are inseparably linked with a countryside.

Along with it we must not forget that the majority of population of our country – around 50% – lives in the rural area. And therefore, we well understand that further flourishing of the country, growth of people’s prosperity and successful resolution of high objectives standing before us, certainly, depend on the future of our countryside.

In other words, improving the state of affairs in the countryside, further increasing of efficiency of the agricultural sector, at all times, and particularly, taking into account the increased demand at the modern stage, certainly, obtain a particular significance and actuality.

Therefore, in order to give a new strong impetus, a new acceleration to the work accomplished in this direction I suggest to declare the forthcoming year 2009 in our country as the “Year of Rural Development and Well-being”.

It is a wise decision, especially in the light of todays severe realities in agricultural sector of Uzbekistan. Lets hope that it will bring its positive results. A year 2008 was a “The Year of Youth”.