47305-002, 47305-004 - Horticulture Value Chain Development Project

The project will provide a loan to the Republic of Uzbekistan to channel through qualified participating financial institutions (PFI's) who will on-lend to horticulture-related farmers and businesses for fixed asset investments such as intensive orchards, cold storages, processing and packaging equipment. The project will address the critical constraintlack of long term resources in the Uzbekistan banking system. Since horticulture sector has high value produces, the project will contribute significantly to creating sustainable enterprises, increasing employment, and improving household income. Key lessons learnt from previous and ongoing projects financed by ADB and development partners are taken into account in the project design: (i) there needs be a dedicated project management office, other than the Ministry of Finance, to monitor the PFIs' lending activities and safeguards compliance; and (ii) terms and conditions of PFIs' subloans must be business- and demand-based without any government interventions.