Author: Mukhabhat Babakhozhayeva

By 2030, Uzbekistan wants to double the size of its GDP. To do that, its officials must balance the interests of the US, Russia and China. That’s no easy feat in today’s increasingly fractured global economy, putting Uzbekistan among countries trying to hedge their bets. “Today the geopolitical situation shows that you cannot rely only on one country because it’s not secure,” Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev said. “Every country is looking for diversification.” “China is one of our biggest trade and investment partners,” Khodjaev said in an interview on the sidelines of a US-Uzbekistan business conference in Washington this month.…

AKIPRESS.COM – Seven people were poisoned by counterfeit vodka in Fergana region of Uzbekistan, one of them died, Gazeta.uz reports. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, seven people turned to local hospitals complaining of poor health, headaches and nausea on September 5. Doctors revealed they had poisoning with an unknown substance. It turned out that all victims had previously been at a wedding where they drank vodka. The pre-investigation check established that the poisoned people used counterfeit alcohol made in a local handicraft workshop. In particular, several local residents began to produce fake vodka using the labels of the Kazakh brands…

We are ready to share any technology and open to regional cooperation, said the President as he received the Chairperson of the Senate of Uzbekistan today. Tanzila Narbayeva led the parliamentary delegation. The development of trade and economic cooperation and humanitarian sphere are being actively promoted between the two countries. According to the President, Uzbeks and Belarusians are united by one common and very important feature, and we are similar in this. Belarusians and Uzbeks are united by hard work. Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus: “These are very hardworking people, these are people who have experienced everything…

Frankfurt, London (12/08 – 80) It seems that the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) has become a hostage to its investments in Tajikistan. In mid-July, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) appealed to the Supreme Economic Court of Tajikistan with a demand to annul the land certificate for the campus of the University of Central Asia in Khorog, which is owned by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). The university’s administration, local authorities, and the prosecutor’s office have not commented on this matter. However, it is evident that if the authorities manage to revoke the land certificate,…

Berlin (25/7 – 16.67) The table is set for the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast to remain a geopolitical hotspot. Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), eastern Tajikistan, is the home to the Pamir Mountains, also called “the roof of the world”, whose sharp mountain ranges and deep valleys resemble a lunar landscape. A far-flung frontier, situated in a troubled neighborhood, next to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, GBAO is a geopolitical treasure tethered to exterior interests: the authoritarian central Tajik government in Dushanbe, Chinese economic and military interests, and Russia, which historically frames the Pamirs as a part of its…

The American Chamber of Commerce in Uzbekistan (AmCham) hosted a U.S. Department of Commerce certified trade mission to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from June 4-6, 2023. The trade mission followed U.S. Department of Commerce Under Secretary Marisa Lago’s October 2022 and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s March 2023 visit to Tashkent, as well as a strong turnout by U.S. companies at recent business events in Uzbekistan including the Second Tashkent International Investment Forum April 27-28 and the EBRD Annual Meeting in Samarkand May 16-18. The mission consisted of U.S. companies focused on infrastructure development, including in the digital, energy/power, education, and weather…

Karakalpakstan is in the northwest of Uzbekistan, bordering Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Much of the area is covered by the Aral Sea and the growing desert replacing its water, but in between are grand canyons, Silk Road monuments, wildlife reserves with growing populations of critically endangered species, magnificent archaeological sites, a world-class museum, and superb opportunities for community-based tourism. If you have a Central Asian bucket list of sites and experiences, read on to find out how Karakalpakstan compares. I want to see Silk Road monuments Uzbekistan is without doubt the heart of the Silk Road, but those same trading routes wound their way on…

As part of the implementation of the Cooperation Program between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2023-2024, on April 13-14, 2023, regular consultations were held in the city of Samarkand between the foreign ministries of the two countries on the inventory and improvement of the legal framework of the Turkmen-Uzbek relations. The diplomats reviewed and compiled a single list of bilateral international treaties and other documents that do not have the status of an international treaty. Representatives of the two ministries exchanged information on the practice of…

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Highlighting the existing capacities for the expansion of ties between Iran and Uzbekistan, the Iranian foreign minister said Tehran attaches great significance to economic cooperation with Tashkent, specifically in the transportation field. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Uzbek counterpart Bakhtiyor Saidov held a meeting on the sidelines of the 4th meeting of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries in Samarkand on Thursday. They discussed the issues of mutual interest and also the common views of the two countries regarding Afghanistan. Amirabdollahian thanked Uzbekistan’s government for hosting the conference and inviting the Iranian delegation. He described the relations between…

The geopolitics of the Caspian region has been undergoing a rapid change in recent years due to the geopolitical realignment in the post-Soviet Eurasian space and the neighbouring Persian region. In this context, India, because of its historical geo-cultural connectivity with the Caspian region, can play a major role in shaping the geopolitical dynamics of this region. The Russia-Ukraine War and its repercussions on global geopolitics have become a talking point since 2022. However, in addition to the war, issues like its consequences on the post-Soviet countries —particularly on the economic impact in post-Soviet space— along with the new opportunities…