Uzbekistan wants to strengthen its global position

Omar Adan

Global Courant

On September 19, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan delivered a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he reassured the world community of his personal commitment to continued economic reform in Uzbekistan.

These reforms have the ambitious goal of doubling the size of the country’s economy by 2030. Mirziyoyev also held the first-ever talks with US President Joe Biden, in which the two leaders discussed the prospects for cooperation between Tashkent and Washington, as well as regional cooperation. in Central Asia.

The highest-level meetings between leaders in the United States were aimed at strengthening Uzbekistan’s global position and conveying the message that Uzbekistan is not just a post-Soviet Central Asian nation, but a promising player in the global trade, investment and political map.

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Uzbekistan’s involvement in international trade, especially with China, has improved significantly in recent years. This was a topic of discussion between Mirziyoyev and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the China-Central Asia summit in May.

Promoting global trade relations is an important task for Uzbekistan as Mirziyoyev aims for his country to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The move is expected to help Uzbekistan double its annual exports to $45 billion, with a focus on agricultural products, IT services and tourism. To achieve this, it is crucial to gain support from the largest WTO member states and to address post-Soviet problematic issues.

One of the pressing issues that Uzbekistan has successfully addressed under Mirziyoyev’s leadership is forced labor, including child labor, in the cotton industry, which makes up a large part of the country’s exports. This now-banned state practice, often called “cotton slavery,” affected some 500,000 adults and nearly 2 million children annually.

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