February 14 President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting with young people. At the beginning of his speech, the head of our state expressed satisfaction with the meeting with energetic young people, noting that in them he sees today's and tomorrow's builders of New Uzbekistan.

   "As our great poet Erkin Vakhidov said, youth is the golden word of the soul. In addition to this, it would be correct to say that youth is the golden fund of our people, our Motherland.

   This is confirmed by the fact that 60 percent of our population is young people. Today, because we believe in our courageous and resilient people, our energetic youth, we are setting high goals for ourselves.

   Where will the new Khorezmians, Berunis, Ibn Sinas, Mirzo Ulugbek, and Alisher Navoi emerge, who will lay the foundation for the Third Renaissance in the future? Who will carry out these enormous tasks?

   I never tire of repeating it over and over again. Certainly, these noble ideas will be implemented by you - the youth of today's New Uzbekistan," the President said.

   During the conversation, it was noted that our youth are setting an example for their peers with their achievements in various fields. Currently, more than 1.5 thousand of our students are studying at the best universities in the world. This is an unprecedented event for Uzbekistan.

   "Now all leaders in the system are obliged to hear the voice of youth. A leader who does not understand that youth is the main link of our great future has no right to be in our ranks," the President said.

   During the dialogue, it was also reported that previously at least 10 young men and women competed for 1 place in higher education, the number of universities tripled in a short period, and the coverage of the system reached 42 percent. The number of female students has increased 11 times due to the state covering their tuition fees.

   "I never tire of repeating one life thought: if we educate one girl, we educate the whole family. If the family is educated and enlightened, then the whole society will be educated and enlightened. We will continue this work even more intensively," the President said.

   Over the past 25 years, 800 young people have been sent to study abroad at the expense of the state, and over the past 7 years, 3 times more young men and women have received such opportunities through the "El-yurt umidi" Foundation alone.

   It has been determined that the Youth Agency will be equally responsible with the Agency for the Development of Public Service for each student studying abroad, identifying their needs, returning to the Homeland, finding their place, and pursuing a successful career.

   The number of young scientists with academic degrees has doubled and reached 4,357. Especially among our children, interest in learning foreign languages has sharply increased. Taking advantage of these opportunities, the knowledgeable and ambitious Parviz Tuksanov recently scored the highest - 1600 points on the SAT exam. The President warmly congratulated him on this achievement and expressed gratitude to his parents and teachers.

   Another example - the formation of a reading culture among young people based on the idea of a "book-loving nation" has become a nationwide movement. The number of participants in the traditionally held "Young Reader" competition has increased sixfold, reaching 3 million. Through the "Reading" project, created by a group of active youth, more than 1 million young people joined the ranks of readers.

   In the current era of rapid information exchange, creating national content for the younger generation, especially our children, is a pressing task. The need for further popularization of such content by demonstrating it in the educational process in kindergartens and schools was emphasized.

   According to the third document signed by the President, Aloqabank has been transformed into a youth bank supporting youth business projects, with $200 million allocated for this purpose. The bank will allocate preferential microloans of up to 100 million soums for a period of 7 years for self-employed youth projects.

   Also, young entrepreneurs who are individual entrepreneurs, have hired at least 20 young people, opened a small enterprise, and organized a training center will be provided with preferential loans of up to 5 billion soums for a period of 7 years. At least 30 percent of bank loans will be directed to women's entrepreneurship.

   "Youth business incubators" will be created in the regions, where youth ideas will be transformed into startups, supported for 6 months to 3 years, and brought to the level of ready-made businesses and enterprises.

   Through the Aloqa Venture Fund, startups will receive investments ranging from $50,000 to $1 million to assist in selling products and services in domestic and international markets, finding business partners, and attracting additional investments.

   It was emphasized that in 2025 the work to eradicate youth unemployment in Uzbekistan will be raised to a new level. Leaders were warned about the negative consequences of youth unemployment, that unemployed youth, knowingly or unknowingly, can engage in unacceptable activities, fall under the influence of religious radicalism, and enter the path of crime.

   A large employment program has been adopted this year to train young people in professions and languages and provide them with high-paying jobs. A total of 126 trillion soums are being allocated for this purpose. According to it, 378 thousand micro-projects will be implemented in mahallas, and mahalla bankers will provide income for 250 thousand people through new credit products.

   It is no lie that during the conversation with the youth, the President of our country opened the doors of many opportunities for young people. We are confident that, using these opportunities, young people will achieve great things.