The Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev will pay an official visit to Uzbekistan. Nikolai Patrushev will visit Tashkent on October 31 and attend the consultations between the security councils offices.

Uzbekistan is undergoing an unprecedented economic transformation. In the last three years, this nation of 33 million—the largest in Central Asia—has opened up and embraced a free market economy after 25 years of centrally-planned economic management. The Uzbek government has rapidly embraced vital reforms critical to its future development such as liberalizing trade and the currency regime. These are welcome advancements that will establish a foundation for future growth and development.

On October 29, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the Science and Scientific Activities Bill into Law. The document was passed by the Legislative Chamber on July 22 and was approved by the Senate on October 11.

Officers of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the State Security Service arrested in an operation an employee of the Altiaryk district branch of the Land Management and Real Estate Cadastre, E. M. and “other" persons who were extorting bribes  in Ferghana province, the General Prosecutor’s office said.

When Webster University Uzbekistan holds a grand opening ceremony on November 1, it will have the largest enrollment out of any international operation in Webster’s network. With nearly 500 students enrolled, Uzbekistan has surpassed the size of Webster’s student populations in Thailand, China, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Austria and Ghana. Only Webster St. Louis, which includes its primary Webster Groves campus, has more students.

The deputy mayor of the Kashkadarya’s Shakhrisabz district and an employee of the mayor’s office were caught taking US$ 100 in a bribe from a businessman on Tuesday, the Prosecutor General’s Office said.

A meeting with officials of Huawei and CEIEC (China) was held at the State Tax Committee (STC), during which the parties discussed the introduction of digital technologies in Uzbekistan’s tax system and the development of a Unified Tax Database, the State Tax Committee said.

The Uzbekistan Defense Minister, Bakhodir Kurbanov held a bilateral meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Zakir Hasanov, the Ministry of Defense said.

Turkish Atlasglobal Airlines will operate charter flights from Istanbul to Samarkand and Bukhara, the Tourism Development Committee said.

The Uzbek Defense Minister, Major-General Bakhodir Kurbanov departed for Azerbaijan to attend the next meeting of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers.

On October 28, 2019, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Dilshod Akhatov met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Sweden stationed in Stockholm, Ingrid Tersmann.

Uzbekistan purchased a large batch of Typhoon armored vehicles (K53949) from Russia, with deliveries due to begin in 2019, RIA Novosti said.

The Government of Uzbekistan and the UN agreed on a draft special resolution of the UN General Assembly on declaring the Aral Sea region as the zone of environmental innovations and technology. The project was considered at the high-level international conference “Aral Sea Region - Zone of Environmental Innovations and Technologies”, held in Nukus on October 25.

The Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) program under the U.S. Department of State handed over detection equipment for searching different compartments of a vehicle for hidden contraband to the State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan, the committee said.

The five-year campaign “Plant a Million Garden Trees” was launched on Friday in Nukus, which will cover Karakalpakstan, Bukhara and Kashkadarya provinces.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has chosen the project for the new terminal for Samarkand International Airport, the Uzbekistan 24 said.

The United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), supported a two-day regionwide workshop on the Concept and Prospects for a Central Asia Regional Electricity Market (CAREM). Power sector representatives from all five Central Asian countries attended the conference and shared their nation’s experiences on recent developments and current priorities in their respective power sectors. International experts presented best practices of electricity markets successfully implemented in other regions.

For the first time, Uzbekistan air forces tested the CHinese FD-2000 air defence system at the Kulkuduk training ground, In the Navoi province, the Uzbek Defense Ministry said.

On October 24, the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev familiarized himself with the construction progress of the Sergeli extension of the Chilonzor metro line, the presidential press service said.

Uzbekistan’s population stood at 33.72 million on October 1, increasing by 469 thousand, or 1.4% year-to-date, the State Committee on Statistics said.