The Economic Modernization of Uzbekistan Mamuka Tsereteli

Agriculture ...................................................................................................... 37
 
New Regional Economic and Trade Policy .............................................. 42
 
Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 49
 
Author’s Bio
 ......................................................................................................... 54
 

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Preface 
Dramatic changes have occurred in Uzbekistan during the year and a 
half since Shavkat Mirziyoyev's election as President. Some of these changes 
have come in the form of legislative acts of the Oliy Majlis, Uzbekistan's 
parliament. Others have taken the form of administrative orders issued by 
the President or his principal Ministers. At no other time since Uzbekistan's 
establishment as an independent state have more innovations been 
introduced, or with greater speed. 
Since these changes are bound to affect Uzbekistan's internal economic, 
social, and political life, and since they directly affect Uzbekistan's ties with 
its regional neighbors and its relations with all the world's major powers, 
the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint 
Center has undertaken to document this year of innovation. As part of this 
effort, we are pleased to present this study by Mamuka Tsereteli, who offers 
a comprehensive and meticulously documented overview of new initiatives 
affecting Uzbekistan’s economy.
This 
Silk Road Paper
follows a study 
released on Uzbekistan's foreign policy in December 2017, and studies on 
the country’s legal and political reforms published in March 2018. All will 
constitute chapters in a forthcoming volume, 
Uzbekistan's New Face
, to be 
published in the summer of 2018. 
The reader may well ask how this dramatic series of initiatives will work 
out in actual practice. As the saying goes, “there is a big distance between 
the cup and the lip.” Obviously, only the passage of time will enable us to 
reach firm conclusions on this important point. However, certain impacts of 
the reform agenda have already been registered in the economic realm. 
Others will follow. Our objective in cataloguing and presenting the 

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Mamuka Tsereteli 
6
 
legislative acts, decrees, and executive orders that constitute the present era 
of reforms is to provide those interested in Uzbekistan with a base line and 
guide that will enable them to evaluate the on-going process of 
implementation as it emerges. Stated differently, it is a story of aspirations 
that are sweeping in their intent and far-reaching in their likely impact. It 
will enable friends of Uzbekistan and academic analysts in many countries 
to track Uzbekistan’s further evolution.