World Bank Document

is the creation of good jobs. This will require inter alia accelerated transition from a state-

dominated toward a private sector-driven, market-based economy. Uzbekistan’s public sector will 

not be able to create the large number of jobs needed to meet the needs of a labor force that is 

projected to continue increasing until 2040. Private sector development and investment are thus 

essential. In this context, urbanization will likely make cities the focus of job creation: with 

increasing rural-to-urban migration and employment in agriculture expected to fall by up to 1 

million by 2020, a larger share of new jobs will need to be located in urban areas. If the economy 

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can create good jobs, the growing labor force and declining dependency ratio create an opportunity 

for rapid growth in per capita income. 

 

21. 

Third, Uzbekistan has hitherto relied heavily on the use of natural resources, notably