DND News: President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s address at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Samarkand highlighted Uzbekistan’s economic transformation, regional cooperation, and future development priorities. He emphasized Uzbekistan’s historic role as a crossroads of civilizations and presented “New Uzbekistan” as an emerging platform for global dialogue. Since 2016, the country has undertaken wide-ranging reforms to liberalize its economy, attract investment, and improve living standards. These efforts have led to significant achievements, including $150 billion in foreign investment, tripling of exports, strong economic growth, and a sharp reduction in poverty. President Mirziyoyev praised the ADB and other international financial institutions as key partners, noting ongoing joint projects worth billions of dollars and a newly signed $12 billion cooperation program. He outlined several priority areas for future collaboration: Digital transformation and AI: Expanding artificial intelligence…