Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 25 July 2023, a roundtable discussion on the topic “Central Asia: global processes and sustainable development of the region” was held at International Institute of Central Asia (MICA) with the participation of foreign and national experts.

The event was attended by the Deputy Director of the National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences S. Afontsev, the heads of the sectors of IMEMO RAS I. Danilin, I. Prokhorenko, I. Tsapenko and senior researcher A. Davydov.

The Uzbek side was represented by the heads and experts of MICA, Director of IACMO D. Kurbanov, Deputy Director of IMRI T. Akhmedov, Deputy Director of IPMI at UWED A. Umarov and Deputy Director of CERR M. Kholmukhamedov.

In recent years, the Central Asian region, thanks to the political will of the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, is rapidly changing, gaining stability, unity and international subjectivity.

The decisive factor that triggered the processes of building up cooperation in Central Asia was the new foreign policy course of Tashkent, initiated by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The implementation of the new regional policy made it possible to achieve the removal of most controversial issues, which created the conditions for the transformation of Central Asia into a single trade, investment, transport and communication platform.

Today, stable Central Asia is already becoming one of the important centers of investment activity and economic growth. According to EDB estimates, over the past 2 decades, the total GDP of Central Asia has nominally grown more than 8 times, and in real terms - 4 times, to US$397 billion.

A powerful transformation continues in the development and implementation of the latest technologies, a number of countries are actively transitioning to the economy of the future, bringing the likelihood of technological gaps between countries and entire regions closer.

Against this background, there is a need to implement an agenda aimed at developing the region and strengthening its ties with the outside world.

Deputy Director of IMEMO RAS S. Afontsev said that the observed trends in increasing the stability of Central Asia are “the best basis for future development and implementation of regional and international initiatives.

Director of the IACMO D. Kurbanov said that the process of mutual rapprochement in Central Asia is of particular value, in the promotion of which the regional policy and initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to strengthen political trust in the region played a key role.

An important result of these joint efforts was the strengthening of the international and investment attractiveness of the region, the expansion of interaction between the Central Asian states and the leading countries of the world both on a bilateral basis and in the “Central Asia Plus” format.

F. Kadirov, Acting Director of MICA, noted that the new foreign policy course of Tashkent, initiated by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, was able to actually reset relations within the region.

Borders have opened, trade has normalized, and all countries in the region have begun to receive significant economic benefits from closer cooperation. The trade turnover of Uzbekistan with the states of Central Asia has increased 3 times since 2016.

For the first time since the early 90s, in the region, there is close cooperation in the field of industrial cooperation in priority sectors of the economy, border trade zones are being created, transport and logistics issues are being resolved.

All this created the conditions for the transformation of Central Asia into a single trade, investment, transport and communication platform.

The head of the sector of IMEMO RAS I. Tsapenko noted the statement of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev that the future of the planet and the well-being of people depend on how our children grow up. This confirms the need for a successful youth policy in the country, which is also clearly indicated in the World Bank report.”

CERR Deputy Director M. Kholmukhamedov: “The strengthening of the role of the Central Asian countries in the foreign trade of Uzbekistan clearly shows that under favorable natural and climatic conditions, the available resources of the economies of the countries of the region complement each other.

In turn, according to the head of the IMEMO RAS sector I. Danilin, “In recent years, Uzbekistan has transformed into a regional leader in technology development, which can be evidenced by IT Park and the Uzbek-Korean textile technopark located in Tashkent.”

A. Davydov, senior researcher at IMEMO RAS, highlighted the importance of the policy pursued by Tashkent aimed at establishing lasting peace in this country, without which it is impossible to ensure regional security.

During the event, specific proposals were also developed on the current agenda of international and regional cooperation.