CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 03/2023

LE MONDE UZBEKISTAN
MUSTANG MACH-E
VOLLELEKTRISCH IN DIE ZUKUNFT.
FACTS
Icecream with Soviet astronaut
Juri Gagarin;
Khiva: Desert fortress.
Rapid development
With two dedicated 5-year plans, the Uzbek
government has launched rapid development
since 2017. Above all, the liberalization of the
economy was internationally recognised. The
British "Economist" named Uzbekistan
"Country of the Year" in 2019 because no other
country had implemented reforms so
energetically. In the World Bank's "Doing
Business" ranking, Uzbekistan has improved by
97 places in recent years and was ranked 69th
in 2020. A powerful machine industry
complements the traditional agricultural sector.
The cotton exports known from Soviet times
were discontinued. Now, yarns and clothes are
made from it in new textile factories and are
also sold in Europe.
A lot of money was put into the infrastructure:
new roads and railways were built. Uzbeks
are proud of the high-speed train "Afrosiyob",
a cooperation with the Spanish "Talgo", which
runs from Tashkent via Samarkand and Bukhara
to Khiva. New subway lines are being built in
the capital of Tashkent, which has a population
of 2.4 million.
Investments in tourism created the basis for
increasing guest numbers, with the South
Koreans and Germans currently representing
the most important countries of origin for
tourists after Russians and Chinese, explains
Farrukh Khakimov from the "Development
Strategy Center" in Tashkent, which advises the
president and the government. The owner of
the 4-star hotel Sahid Zarafshon in Bukhara,
Nasriddin Rashidov, is a representative of
the new entrepreneurial class. He brought
the old state hotel up to date. The money
came from his garbage recycling operation,
one of the first in the country.
The "New Silk Road" project is proudly
presented in Samarkand. A modern
conference center with 9 top hotels was
built there on the outskirts of an artificial
canal. The "Eternal City" contains replicas of
the country's most important sights. Visitors
can watch the traditional craftsmen - from
the baker to the blacksmith and carpet
weavers - at work and buy their products. In
the evenings there are open-air concerts.
In 2020, an IT park was founded in
Tashkent, where international companies
serve the Central Asian market. "Google&Co
have been taxpayers for us ever since," says
Khakimov. New and deepened trade
relations are currently being established
with Malaysia, Singapore, Egypt and with EU
countries and the USA. Accession to the
WTO is planned for 2026. An “extended
partnership and cooperation agreement” is
currently being negotiated with the EU. The
agreement is intended to create a basis for
cooperation in the areas of legislation,
economics, social affairs, finance, civil
science, and technology and culture.
High-speed train Afrosiyob, tourism complex “Eternal City”, Samarkand.
yev can now remain president for two full terms of
office, which have been extended from five to seven
years, so until 2037 at the latest.
Mirziyoyev succeeded in positioning his country
as a leading power in Central Asia. He initiated regular
informal meetings with his counterparts in the
four neighbouring countries, also to end long-standing
conflicts. At the beginning of this year, an old
border dispute with Kyrgyzstan was settled by swapping
territory.
Now new infrastructure projects are planned in
Central Asia. These include the construction of a
new railway line from Tashkent via Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan
to China. New roads should also help to increase
the movement of goods.
Russia remains the most important export market.
But the Uzbek government is attempting a neutral
course by staying out of Russia’s current war
against Ukraine.
The Soviet past is evident in the use of Russian as
a second language, in buildings, in the Tashkent Metro,
which was built after the 1966 earthquake, and
typical Russian ice-cream.
Uzbekistan is connected to China via the Silk
Road project and the political, economic and military
association “Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO), which includes three other Central Asian
countries in addition to China, Russia, India, Pakistan
and Iran.
The country finances its development with the
natural ressources uranium, natural gas, copper, coal
and gold. New initiatives are underway to protect the
environment and fight climate change, especially to
combat the drying up of the Aral Sea in the northwest
of the country. A new Central Asian University
for the Study of the Environment and Climate
Change “Green University” has been established,
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Cercle Diplomatique 3/2023
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