CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 03/2023

LE MONDE UZBEKISTAN
Basar for nuts and spices in
Tashkent (left), Poi-Kalon
Minaret and mosque in Bukhara.
FACTS
THE NEW
E-CLASS.
Evolves with you.
New hope for the
Aral Sea region
In 2021, President Shavkat
Mirziyoyev shocked the
UN-General Assembly
with a map of the
shrunken Aral Sea: What
was once the fourth
biggest lake in the world
and big as Bavaria, was
reduced to about 10
percent of its former size.
It is one of the biggest
man-made ecological
catastrophes on our
planet. Intensive irrigation
for cotton fields in the
former Soviet republics
was responsible for that.
Now, the government of
Uzbekistan has set up an
international fund for
reducing the ecological
damage and give the local
population new
opportunities. Millions of
trees are to be planted on
the former sea ground to
transform the desert. In
the city of Munyak, once
the largest port of
Uzbekistan, visitors can
see dozens of rusted ships
moored forever in a
dystopian landscape.
Munyak: Moored ships in
the Aral Sea desert.
Necropolis Shah-i-Zinda in Samarkand.
Former Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev (65)
has ruled the Central Asian country since Karimov’s
death in 2016. As head of state, Mirziyoyev initiated
extensive reforms and opened up the country, which
has a population of over 35 million, to the outside
world. Parliament was given more powers and more
attention was paid to human rights. The death penalty
was abolished. The forced labour and child labour
that used to be common in cotton fields was also
stopped. Strict anti-corruption measures have been
introduced.
The new constitution, which was approved by 90
percent of those entitled to vote in a referendum last
April, is intended to enable further reforms in the
country. A separate department at the Presidency of
the Republic collected hundreds of ideas and suggestions
from the population and continues to serve as a
contact point for citizens.
Great attention was paid to the private economic
sector. Foreign investors were attracted by low taxes,
loosening exchange rate policies and free export of
profits. Several hundred state-owned companies
have now been privatised. Instead of the cotton exports
that were massively promoted in the former
Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan, textile companies
have emerged whose products from their own cotton
cultivation are exported, including to the EU. Uzbekistan
also started its own vehicle industry in cooperation
with the US company Chevrolet.
Tourism is booming again after the Corona break
and modern hotels have been built across the country.
Seven million tourists are expected this year. Uzbekistan,
with its UNESCO World Heritage Sites on
the ancient Silk Road such as Samarkand, Bukhara
and Khiva, is considered a safe country to travel to
because Islamist terror has been cracked down on.
Islam in Uzbekistan is moderate. Veiled women are
rarely seen, and many bars and restaurants serve alcohol,
including home-brewed beer and quality Samarkand
wine and brandy.
According to the constitution, President Mirziyo-
PHOTOS: OTMAR LAHODYNSKY (3), ADOBE STOCK
The new E-Class offers even more space for individuality,
from the flexible interior concept with generous luggage
compartment volume to the intuitively networked cockpit
with personalizable office and entertainment options.
Now at your Mercedes-Benz partner
and at mercedes-benz.at
Monument of Independence in
New Uzbekistan Park, Tashkent.
E-Class Sedan total Fuel consumpton (combined): 4,8–7,3 l/100 km; total CO 2
emissions (combined): 125–166 g/km.
Determined according to WLTP; further information at mercedes-benz.at/wltp. Typing errors excepted. Picture is symbol photo.
30
Cercle Diplomatique 3/2023
Merbag GmbH Autorisierter Vertriebs- und Servicepartner für Mercedes-Benz PKW und Transporter
Location Troststrasse, 1104 Wien, Troststrasse 109–111, T +43 1 601 75-0, troststrasse@merbag.at | Location Donaustadt, 1220 Wien, Donaustadtstrasse 51,
T +43 1 202 53 31-0, donaustadt@merbag.at | Location Brunn, 2345 Brunn am Gebirge, Wiener Strasse 154, T +43 2236 90 90 30-0; brunn@merbag.at