On the eve of Uzbekistan’s presidential election, Erdo Aripov wrote that for Uzbekistan, the current and future relations with the EU remain the most critical factor in its foreign policy strategy.
Eldor Aripov is the director of the Strategic and Interregional Institute under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan is on the eve of an important political event-the presidential election. Election activities are in full swing and are being carried out in a new political atmosphere. The five political parties that nominated candidates are actively promoting their planning concepts and platforms.
The elections will be held under the conditions of the new national electoral legislation and will be updated in accordance with recognized international standards. For example, a procedure was introduced to include citizens of Uzbekistan living abroad on the list of voters. They can vote regardless of whether they are registered in the consular register of diplomatic missions.
The international community pays great attention to this. In particular, election observers from 50 countries and more than a dozen international organizations are expected to participate.
It is worth emphasizing that the upcoming elections will be an assessment of the reforms initiated by the head of state Shavkat Mirziyoev and determine the direction of Uzbekistan’s further development.
Mirziyoyev has been nominated and unanimously approved as a candidate by members of the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan. At the Tenth Party Congress, Mirziyoyev put forward the main points of his campaign platform “New Uzbekistan Strategy.” The main message in his speech is that now, the country’s democratic reforms have the characteristics of irreversible stability, and the country intends to continue implementing these reforms.
Indeed, in the past five years, under the leadership of Mirziyoyev, the living conditions of the people of Uzbekistan have improved. The open atmosphere has become an integral part of social life. The rule of law, the continuous development of civil society and the market economy are ensuring the irreversibility of the country’s political and economic modernization.
The protection of human rights and the interests of the people determines the nature of all reforms and transformations in the country. Especially in recent years, the government has gradually eliminated forced labor and child labor, and established a sound social security system.
In the economic field, it has been moving in the direction of liberalization, the development of entrepreneurship and the improvement of the investment environment. The privatization of state-owned assets, the transformation of state-owned enterprises, and a unified exchange rate have become the main conditions for economic growth. From 2017 to 2020, the national economy grew by 24%, industry grew by 34%, and the per capita GDP reached US$1,700, higher than the US$1,068 in 2011-2016.
The level of investment activity increased significantly: the total investment increased by 2.1 times in the short term, including foreign investment-nearly 3 times. Thanks to economic liberalization and simplification of customs procedures, exports in 2020 will reach 15.1 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 25% over 2016.
Important steps have been taken to ensure the transparency of government institutions and their accountability to the public. The political activities of the people, political parties, and non-governmental organizations are increasing; the media is becoming more and more active and independent.
The nature and content of the country’s foreign policy have changed. Today, the expert community is talking about the emergence of a new foreign policy in Uzbekistan.
Tashkent has identified Central Asia as the focus of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy. The goal is to transform the region into a stable and sustainable development region, and create an atmosphere of trust and good-neighborliness that is fully consistent with the EU.
One symptom of this pragmatic approach is the regular consultation meeting of the heads of state of Central Asia initiated by President Mirziyoyev. The recent meeting decided to compile a five-party document on friendship, good-neighborliness and cooperation in Central Asia in the 21st century, and agreed on a draft road map for regional cooperation and development from 2022 to 2024.
With the increase in cooperation among Central Asian countries, important joint decisions have been made at all levels on regional and international issues of common concern to countries in the fields of security, economy, investment, tourism, culture, medical treatment, and health. environment.
The situation in neighboring Afghanistan occupies a special place in Uzbekistan’s new foreign policy. In response to the growing demand for food aid in Afghanistan, the United Nations World Food Program has established a major logistics center in Termez (Surhandaria region). Today, UN agencies are delivering necessary humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan’s provinces. The Uzbek government has also delivered 1,300 tons of humanitarian aid materials including food, medicine and clothing to Balkh Province, Afghanistan.
There is no doubt that the European Union is one of Uzbekistan’s important partners on the international stage. Tashkent attaches great importance to the development of bilateral and multilateral mutually beneficial cooperation with the EU and its member states. It is worth emphasizing that in recent years, the EU has not only strengthened its dialogue with Uzbekistan, but also with all countries in the region. The EU’s diplomatic presence and participation have expanded, and its attitude towards Central Asia has also been updated.
The most important point of these relations is that while Brussels supports Tashkent’s open and constructive foreign policy in Central Asia, it has fundamentally modified its policy in the region. This is reflected in the updated 2019 EU Central Asia Strategy. The emphasis on the development of inter-regional ties has been strengthened, and the EU’s support for political stability and sustainable development of Central Asian countries has been strengthened.
Inter-regional interaction agencies in the form of Central Asia and the European Union have proven their capabilities. In this context, regular meetings are held within the framework of the high-level dialogue on political and security issues in the EU and Central Asian countries to exchange views on major issues of stability and sustainable development in the region.
It is worth noting that, in order to strengthen trade cooperation in 2020, the European Commission decided to grant Uzbekistan the status of a beneficiary country of the EU Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Plus in advance, allowing Uzbekistan to deliver duty-free. More than 6000 domestic products are sold to the European market.
In addition, today in Tashkent and Brussels, the prospects of promoting trade and economic interaction within the framework of the new comprehensively enhanced partnership and cooperation agreement (EPCA) that has been drawn up since 2019 have received high attention. The agreement will undoubtedly become one of the important tools for establishing mutually beneficial cooperation with the EU, including attracting European investment and the EU’s experience in key areas of national development.
In addition, one of the important priorities of the partnership between the EU, Uzbekistan and Central Asia today is issues related to climate change and sustainable development.
In this field, the two sides have initiated a number of key projects such as “EU-Central Asia: Cooperation in the Field of Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change”, “Central Asia Water and Energy Plan”, and “Green Center”. Asia” etc.
With its rich experience in the field of sustainable development, the European Union can provide true regional and cross-border methods to solve existing problems.
For Uzbekistan, current and future relations with the EU are still the most important direction of its foreign policy strategy. Obviously, both parties have a clear interaction policy and focus, and understand each other’s needs. Today, there is reason to believe that the comprehensive dialogue between Uzbekistan and the European Union is entering a new quality stage, with closer and more targeted cooperation in the most important areas.
[Edited by Alice Taylor]
