Uzbek Government Research Articles

The development of Uzbekistan as a transnational higher education hub: government and institution rationales, and early outcomes

ABSTRACT Between 2018 and 2022, 23 foreign higher education institutions established a campus in Uzbekistan, resulting in it becoming the nation with the third largest number of international branch campuses globally, behind China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The purpose of this research is to understand the Uzbek government’s and foreign institutions’ rationales for engaging with transnational education (TNE) in Uzbekistan, as well as the founding and operational challenges, and the early outcomes. The data used in this study were obtained primarily from a range of expert stakeholders, who have expert and up-to-date knowledge on the development and operation of TNE institutions in Uzbekistan. Guided by our participants’ views and the secondary data examined, an optimistic outlook is anticipated for higher education development in Uzbekistan. The paper concludes with sets of recommendations for local policy makers, TNE institutions, and host countries aspiring to elevate their higher education through TNE.

Some Aspects of Research on the Problems of Ensuring Environmental Safety of the Aral Region During the Years of Independence of Uzbekistan

Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to comprehensively examine the challenges associated with ensuring environmental safety in the Aral region during the years of Uzbekistan's independence. The focus is on understanding the multifaceted issues arising from the Aral Sea crisis, including its historical context, socio-economic implications, and ecological impact on communities.
 
 Methods: The research methodology involves a detailed analysis of the historical background of the Aral Sea crisis, investigating the root causes related to extensive irrigation projects and natural factors. The study assesses the effectiveness of environmental conservation and rehabilitation efforts by examining policies and initiatives implemented by the Uzbek government and international organizations. Additionally, it explores the contributions of local communities, scientific institutions, and non-governmental organizations in sustainable development and environmental protection initiatives.
 
 Results: The findings of the study reveal the severity of the environmental degradation in the Aral region, emphasizing the adverse effects on the health and livelihoods of local communities. The analysis of government and international initiatives provides insights into the ongoing challenges and successes in addressing the Aral Sea crisis. The role of local communities, scientific institutions, and non-governmental organizations in sustainable development and environmental protection is highlighted, showcasing the complexities surrounding these efforts.
 
 Conclusion: In conclusion, this study underscores the need for a multidisciplinary approach to tackle the multifaceted challenges of environmental safety in the Aral region. It acknowledges the historical and ongoing efforts by the Uzbek government, international organizations, and local stakeholders. The study offers recommendations for future strategies to mitigate the environmental crisis, emphasizing sustainable development as a key component in ensuring the long-term well-being of the Aral region.

Legal Challenges Hindering the Development of Islamic Finance in Uzbekistan

Background: Recently, the Uzbek government expressed interest in introducing Islamic financial services. Nevertheless, the creation of the legal framework for the smooth operation of Islamic financial institutions is dragging. This work attempts to identify legal hurdles preventing thepenetration of the Islamic finance industry in Uzbekistan, and formulates vital policy recommendations to lead the development of a regulatory framework for the industry. Methods: A library research method and legal analysis is employed by going through diverse legal matters. For that purpose, we studied a range of legal documents varying from banking and capital market legislation to some newly introduced laws. Additionally, issues of Islamic finance in the tax law and the civil code of the nation are scrutinized. Results and Conclusions: The finding of the paper shows that some legal barriers exist that hinder the complete implementation of the Islamic finance industry in the country. They are not only in one area of national legislation but also exist in various parts of the legal system. Accordingly, it is recommended that the Uzbek government develop a sound legal and regulatory framework to provide a favourable environment for the activities of Islamic finance institutions. The general conclusion of the research resolves that, even if the process of developing an Islamic finance legal framework may start gradually, it should be holistic to be fully effective.

Nudging not nagging: leveraging mentorship and patronage in Sino-Uzbek relations, 2017-2022

ABSTRACT This paper considers Sino-Uzbek relations by critically assessing the positivist depictions of CA states in their relations with larger countries like China. It uses the post-positivist and constructivist framework and adaptations made from the four-factor analysis framework adopted in the case of Uzbekistan to demonstrate avenues in which Uzbekistan demonstrates active agency in relations with China. This paper argues that Uzbekistan and other CA states utilize nudging strategies which refer to a subtle and often indirect way of encouraging or guiding China’s behavior in a particular direction as opposed to so-called “nagging” which associates with persistent and repetitive pressuring China to perform a certain function. Accordingly, Uzbekistan’s approach to China can be described as the nudging strategy of designing the environment or context which makes China’s choices in its relations with Uzbekistan easier and more attractive in favor of policy decisions desired by the Uzbek government. As is depicted in the narrative of cooperation road maps, Uzbekistan’s approach involved both indirect signaling of certain policy preferences, choice-preserving (involving diversification of foreign partners), and positive reinforcement (through various policy incentives). This contrasts the persistent and repetitive pressuring, criticism, threats, or guilt-tripping, seen in relations between China and other Western states.

Language Policy in Uzbekistan

This paper discusses the language policy and its current place in Uzbek society, focusing on the legal basis that the Uzbek government has created for the mother tongue. The adoption of the Uzbek language as the state language 34 years ago was a prelude to the country’s independence, setting the stage for the emergence of a new generation proficient in their mother tongue while helping clean and enrich the language’s vocabulary.The scope of the use of this state language remains limited since many prestigious offices still keep documents in Russian, and signs, advertisements, letterheads, receipts, menus, and many other items have yet to be Uzbekized. Another problem is the decline of written literacy in Uzbek among young people, which is associated with the “phased introduction” of the Latin alphabet that led to the circulation of two competing scripts (i.e., Latin and Cyrillic alphabets). Furthermore, the programs of teaching mother tongue and Uzbek language subjects in primary and secondary schools need serious reform since the state language literacy is low for both Uzbek school graduates and those graduating from Russian-speaking schools. The language literacy of ambassadors and other government personnel must also meet the requirements. More recently, educational reforms are widely taking place across Uzbekistan, including the expansion of foreign language teaching—on top of the state language training—as a way of integrating into the world community. The authors put forward proposals and recommendations to tackle these challenges: The oral and written literacy of graduates from secondary schools needs to be improved; to this end, reforms are needed in the assessment and testing system, and new types of tests should be adopted in higher education institutions. A targeted, unified approach based on international standards is required for foreign language teaching. At the same time, a precise evaluation system should be put into place to determine the professional competence of teachers. While ensuring the effectiveness of foreign language training courses and their coherence with the educational process, Uzbek language training should also continue in higher education.

Present-Day Japan’s Economic Diplomacy Toward Uzbekistan and Its Development

Located in Central Asia connecting Eurasia, Uzbekistan not only occupies an important geographical position, but also has abundant energy resources, which makes it Japan’s important economic and diplomatic target country in Central Asia. Since the unfolding of the new century, Japan’s economic diplomacy with Uzbekistan has gone through several stages of development, from initial contact to gradual maturity, and has been undergoing twists and turns. Since Shinzo Abe came to power for the second time in 2012, Japan’s economic diplomacy with Uzbekistan has deepened significantly, showing more distinct characteristics of changes, including the substantial increase of the amount of aid to the Uzbek government, attaching importance to bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and flexibly utilising the ‘Central Asia + Japan’ regional cooperation mechanism. The strategic considerations behind these changes and adjustments are to deeply participate in the regional cooperation in Central Asia by building a bilateral economic and trade relationship network, ensure the security of energy and resource supply in the post-pandemic era, realise the strategy of becoming a great power, and balance the forces of foreign powers.

Tax monitoring in Uzbekistan: problems and issues

Uzbek government tries to simplify and improve its tax administration system. Tax monitoring is the one of the results of the tax reforms. Benefits of tax monitoring for both taxpayers and tax authorities thoroughly examined. Despite that this form of tax control was introduced in 2018 taxpayers are still unwilling to apply for this procedure. The authors have analyzed specifics of the tax monitoring procedure and highlighted provisions of the tax monitoring rules which prevent taxpayers for using this from of the tax control. Having analyzed international experience in introducing the tax monitoring andprovisions of national tax monitoring regulation, the authors formulated own suggestions on improvement of the tax monitoring rules in order to attract more taxpayers for this procedure

Authoritarianism, Ethnic Management and Non-Securitisation: The Kyrgyz Minority in Uzbekistan

Why was there no ethnicity-based violence in Uzbekistan in June 2010? That month there was widespread violence against ethnically Uzbek citizens of southern Kyrgyzstan. Although its occurrence might have been expected, there was no retaliation against the sizeable Kyrgyz minority of Uzbekistan. Following an overview of the relatively sparse research on this minority, the essay explores how authoritarian conflict management by the Uzbek government reanimated ‘people’s friendship’ discourses, preventing both active mobilisation and the demonisation of a minority. It concludes with some reflections on the prospects for the future of ethnic minorities in Central Asia’s nationalising republics.

미르지요예프 정권의 언어정책과 전망 - ‘언어정책’ 관련 이론들과 우즈베크어의 현실적 언어지위를 중심으로 -

Since assuming the presidency on December 4, 2016, Mirziyoyev has been expediting firm language policy from 2018 to the present in order to further underpin Uzbek"s status as the national language. The Presidential Decree “On Measures to Radically Increase the Prestige and Status of the Uzbek Language as the State Language” and the Draft of “New Law on the State Language of Uzbekistan” were declared in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Upon the declaration, Uzbek politicians, artists, and lawyers who stay in line with the language policy of the Karimov’s government oppose Mirziyoyev"s measures. The Russian government, media, and experts articulate strong concerns to the Uzbek government. Consequently, the status of the Russian language in Uzbekistan matters in pros and cons on Mirziyoyev"s policy. The basic goal of language policy of the Mirziyoyev’s government is to develop Uzbek as the national language that all Uzbek can recognize and to effectively block the use of Russian. However, there has been no conflict among ethnic groups due to thirty-year language problems since the “Law on State Language of the Republic of Uzbekistan” enacted by the Karimov’s government in 1989. The current president is prompting his policy sturdily without considering the realistic status of the Uzbek language and the huge budget for developing the Uzbek language. It is questionable whether or not the language policy pursued by the Mirziyoev regime will be successful and his policy has other intentions. This study aims to reveal the goal of the new language policy under the Mirziyoyev regime by analyzing language policy theory and the realistic status of the Uzbek language. For this, based on the comprehension of the previous studies on the Uzbek language, theories of language policy are explored. Then, the linguistic status and level of the Uzbek language are analyzed with seeing Karimov’s language law through language policy theory. Finally, the realistic linguistic status of the language and the goal of Mirziyoyev’s new language policy are scrutinized.

Multi-vector Foreign Policy of Uzbekistan as an Important Means of Solving the Socio-economic Problems of the Country

The article elucidates the internal problems of Uzbekistan among which one should mention the problem of poverty, mass unemployment, shortage of arable land and water resources, serious ecological problems. To a high degree these problems have been caused by a rapid growth of population. Uzbekistan tries to solve these problems by means of liberal market reforms and the multi-vector foreign policy developing political, economic and trade relations at the same time with different countries, in particular with China, the USA, the EU, Turkey, South Korea, Russia and other countries-members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). It was shown that volumes of trade of Uzbekistan with the Western countries as well as the level of Western investments remain at least now not high. The conclusion is drawn that for the USA Uzbekistan presents the interest mainly in geopolitical, military and strategic aspects, especially now after the US troops left Afghanistan. The EU is more than the USA interested in developing the trade and economic relations with Uzbekistan. The new agreement between Uzbekistan and the EU on enlarged partnership and cooperation will create more favorable conditions for economic cooperation and trade, growth of European investments into economy of Uzbekistan. Nevertheless it seems that the factor of geographic remoteness of Uzbekistan from Europe will not make it possible for the EU countries to occupy the same place in external economic links of Uzbekistan as the countries-neighbours such as China, Russia and other countries-members of the EAEU. It is shown that China is the most important trade and economic partner of Uzbekistan. China considers Uzbekistan as the important transit country with transport corridors indispensable for transportation first of all of Chinese goods to the countries of Europe and other regions of the world. The Chinese investments into economy of Uzbekistan are constantly growing. The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), in particular Russia and Kazakhstan, is also the most important trade and economic partner of Uzbekistan. Besides, Russia is the biggest labour market for millions of Uzbek migrant workers. Within the EAEU the common labour market was created, migrant workers who are citizens of the countries-members of the EAEU enjoy the social rights of the country of stay and may freely move over territories of the countries-members of the EAEU. This fact is especially important for Uzbekistan which is interested in improving living conditions of its migrant workers. Besides, as the facts show, the economic integration within the EAEU does not prevent the governments of the countries-members of the EAEU from developing intensive political and economic relations with different countries. Taking into account the complex of acute socio-economic, ecological and demographic problems facing Uzbekistan it seems that in the future one cannot completely exclude the possibility of membership of Uzbekistan in the EAEU especially if such a membership does not prevent the Uzbek government from pursuing the multi-vector foreign policy. The parliament of Uzbekistan approved the decision to obtain the status of observer at the EAEU. The EAEU granted this status to Uzbekistan in December 2020.

DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION AND PEDAGOGICAL THOUGHTS IN UZBEKISTAN DURING THE YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

From the first years of independence (September 1, 1991), the Uzbek government has made education a priority. The Republic of Uzbekistan has a clear and unambiguous state policy in the field of education, which is based on humane and democratic principles, and the education of every citizen is enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Student online protests in Uzbekistan: democratization of higher education as concomitant to the COVID-19 crisis?

ABSTRACT The democratization of higher education (HE) has been interpreted from various perspectives in many country-specific case studies. Yet, it has been overlooked that in authoritarian regimes the democratization of HE may involve the development of freedom of expression, an element taken for granted in democratic societies. Growing research on the implications of COVID-19 on HE fails to cover the emergence of democratization of HE in the form of freedom of expression practiced by university students. This research examines post-Soviet Uzbekistan to analyse how the practising of freedom of expression emerged among the student body during the pandemic era in the country and how the Uzbek government responded to and resolved the matter. Based on this case, it is argued that in authoritarian states the HE democratization framework can include the development of freedom of expression in the form of student protests that, in this article’s case, emerge as concomitant to the pandemic.

THE “AFGHAN FACTOR” IN UZBEKISTAN’S FOREIGN POLICY: EVOLUTION AND THE CONTEMPORARY SITUATION

This article examines the historical development of Uzbekistan's stance on the situation in Afghanistan, outlines its main stages, achievements and challenges, investigates the major initiatives of Tashkent on solving conflict in the neighbouring country before and after 2016, the major priorities of its contemporary foreign policy towards the Afghan conflict, and the Uzbek government's expectations from the upcoming developments in Afghanistan.

Online Learning Through Moodle Platform in Uzbekistan During The Covid-19 Pandemic

The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic around the globe in the beginning of 2020 was the situation that nobody ever expected to happen in the first place. Specifically, the issue of how education would be conducted was to be performed as fast as possible and with a proper quality. The lockdown that was imposed by the Uzbek government on March 16 brought to life the idea of implementation of online education in universities around Uzbekistan, most importantly, Moodle platform. This article opens up about issues that teachers faced during the beginning of the online educational process and about specificity of Moodle platform. Moreover, this paper depicts the importance and tremendous impact of the Moodle platform in 2020-2021 years

Challenges and Responses of Uzbekistan During COVID-19

Like the rest of the world, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic showed an unprecedented impact on healthcare system and economy of Uzbekistan. Due to lack of resources, stalled organizational agility and highly bureaucratic decision making, the healthcare system of Uzbekistan did not perform optimally. From the top to the bottom decision-making and path dependent strategies were adopted that were ineffective due to volatile and uncertain nature of pandemic. The whole system collapsed because of lack of beds, medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. The Uzbek government needs strategic plans to keep a fine balance between the economic recovery and spending on deteriorating healthcare system. Unlike many Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries Uzbekistan didn’t deny the existence of COVID-19 in the country. However lack of transparency in data dissemination creates doubts of the intent and accuracy of the information. Uzbekistan would have to apply medium and long-term initiatives and foreign assistance to strengthen the macroeconomic structure and to fight with the inflation and unemployment.

Legal Reform in Uzbekistan: Prospects for Freedom of Religion or Belief and Covenantal Pluralism

This article examines religious legislation reform in Uzbekistan since 2017, when President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took power after the death of his predecessor Islam Karimov. The article evaluates to what extent the reforms that the Uzbek government has been trying to implement in recent years are advancing religious freedom in Uzbekistan, and to what extent they are helpful in developing covenantal pluralism. The article argues that Uzbekistan has made some progress in furthering freedom of religion or belief for all, thereby improving prospects for covenantal pluralism. However, there are still serious obstacles preventing believers, and especially religious minorities, from full enjoyment of freedom of religion and liberty of conscience.

Why “Bad journalism” formula is used?

The article deals with the discussions about one of the problems of the global media, "bad journalism". Western experts cite an example of "bad journalism" by American media magnate William Randolph Hearst in journalism in 1898. This is an example of a British journalist, former editor of the London-based “Observer”, taken from “Universal Journalist” by David Rendall for the journalists from Central Asia. The article includes a publication and the forces behind it, including February 17: "The enemy has a hand in destroying a war ship", February 18: "The whole country is in a military malaria," February 20: "Havana residents are insulting the memories of those who died in “Maine”, February 23: “Maine's treacherous demolition”, February 26: “The Journal urged its readers to write a letter to congressmen of their choice”, March 22: "War is the only way out of crisis!”, March 28:“ War or shame? "April 1: “War!”, April 6: “The war is not so long”; April 13: “Congress is about to announce war!”. All of the above mentioned materials can prove the actions committed in order to attract the population to the war, to make the leaders of Spain worried about the case and to disturb the US military. For the formula of "bad journalism" by the author of the article, D. Rendall, he suggests to exemplify a one-on-one review of the events of May 13, 2005 in Andijan, Uzbekistan. First of all, the court found that foreign journalists had visited Andijan three days ago. Hearst also sent his reporter three days in advance. The BBC and other Western media were misinformed, and worst of all, other countries media outlets blindly copied. It is the first of its consequences for the world community that false information is being spread as truth. The author compares the first news released to the "unexpected shock" in the American-Japanese conflict and its effectiveness. Even after the Uzbek authorities reported that the intruders had killed the border guards, soldiers and officers, and then raided the city with the help of international terrorists before taking over the Andijan region, it was not recognized as truth. Instead of correcting information, new charges-have been filed, such as those in the Hearst case. More than one hundred sailors died in the 1898 US shipwreck. Blood shed. The indictment: "The Spanish government did this." There was bloodshed in Andijan as well. The charge is the same - "The Uzbek government did this." The BBC did not say, “It would not have happened if there had not been an international terrorist attack”. The author simply answers the question of “why?” by saying that their purpose was different.

From Employment to Employability: Uzbekistan and the Higher Education Skills Agenda

This article outlines the origins of employability as a concept related to higher education, and its impact on Uzbek higher education policy. By arguing that the recognition of employability arose out of changes in global employment demands, and is aligned to global theories of human capital, it can be asserted that the topdown Uzbek government driven changes in higher education policy have reinforced the employability agenda. Although it is debatable whether a top-down enforced employability agenda is beneficial in terms of pedagogy, many universities are incorporating pedagogy to develop employability in their programmes. It is argued that ideas of pedagogy for employability can be best exploited if linked to the ideas of pre-professional and graduate identity, and even more so if both lecturers and students understand how learning environments can be used to best effect. Also highlighted is the fact that debates surrounding employability have taken place over recent years in primarily Anglo-Saxon contexts, and that there is a need for research in a more diverse range of higher education institutions, particularly in Central Asia.

A Sustainable Development Strategy for the Uzbekistan Textile Industry: The Results of a SWOT-AHP Analysis

Uzbekistan is paying great attention to the textile industry as an industry offering a traditional production advantage, coming to the conclusion that it is necessary to establish and implement effective policies. In Uzbekistan as in other developing countries, whereas there are many strategic directions and development strategies to be considered for key industries, investment resources are limited. Therefore, it is necessary to prioritize and to apply limited resources accordingly. Even though research on the textile industry in Uzbekistan is ongoing for a long time, most of the resultant literature concerns only general industrial trends and pertinent investment and advancement strategies. The present study examined sustainable, concrete, and effective development strategy directions for the Uzbekistan textile industry using strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model. The SWOT-AHP model was tested in a case study on Uzbekistan’s textile industry. In the case study, the results were presented in an illustrative way by utilizing the quantitative information achieved by the model. The results indicated that the weakness and opportunity (WO) strategy had the highest importance, and suggested accordingly that priority should be given to that strategy for Uzbekistan’s textile industry development. The results further suggested that the Uzbekistan government should endeavor to upgrade obsolescent technology and solve the problems of high-priced imported raw materials and workers’ low education level, which are weak points of the textile industry of that country. Also, Uzbekistan should gradually shift the industrial structure from raw cotton to finished textile exportation, which offers relatively high added economic value. To achieve this, the Uzbek government needs to promote joint ventures and strategic alliances with foreign companies wishing to enter the textile industry through foreign direct investment (FDI) schemes.

Uzbekistan’s Long Way to the World Trade Organization

L’Ouzbékistan négocie son adhésion à l’OMC depuis 1994. Ce processus ne progressait pas, car les réformes initiales de libéralisation ont par la suite été remplacées par des politiques protectionnistes dans le commerce extérieur. En 2016, le changement de leadership en Ouzbékistan a ravivé les espoirs d’une évolution positive dans le cadre de l’adhésion à l’OMC. Le président Mirziyoyev a annoncé des réformes économiques et politiques globales pour moderniser le pays. Toutefois, les réformes économiques risquent de se heurter à la résistance de groupes d’intérêts qui profitent du soutien du gouvernement ainsi que du protectionnisme. En tenant compte des différentes perspectives envisageables, cet article affirme que l’adhésion à l’OMC est une étape essentielle pour que le gouvernement ouzbek soit en mesure de procéder aux réformes et de construire une économie de marché solide.