The Russian Interfax news agency has reported that the World Bank will step up its funding of projects in Uzbekistan over the next two years.

It quoted the Bank's representative in Tashkent, Devid Pears, as saying that sectors such as agriculture, water management and public services would be allocated up tothree-hundred-and-fifty million dollars a year.

Since1992, when Uzbekistan joined the world Bank, it has received more than four hundred million dollars in loans for development projects.