Author: Rustam Dehoanov

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has held an expanded meeting with President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Addressing the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said: – Dear Shavkat Miromonovich, distinguished guests, dear friends, I am glad to welcome you to Azerbaijan. We have already had detailed discussions on the important issues of our mutual activity. Today we will continue our meetings in an expanded format. First of all, I would like to thank Shavkat Miromonovich for accepting my invitation and coming to Azerbaijan for a state visit. It is particularly gratifying for us that this is the first…

The new Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the United Nations, Ulugbek Lapasov, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Lapasov was his country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, beginning in 2018.  He also served as First Secretary and Counsellor there from 2014 to 2018. From 2012 to 2014 he worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Attaché and Third Secretary, as well as Head of Division in the Department for Cooperation with Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He also served as Referent and Attaché in that Department from 2006 to 2008.…

Central Asian states keep close ties with Moscow, but younger citizens of former Soviet nations are questioning traditional alliances. Kyiv, Ukraine – Serik Talipzhanov does not like Russia any more. The 32-year-old bank cashier lives in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s former capital and the financial hub of ex-Soviet Central Asia. The city is still largely Russian-speaking, and Talipzhanov, who can name several generations of his ethnic Kazakh forefathers, considers Russian his mother tongue. But his opinion about Kazakhstan’s former imperial master and beacon of soft power underwent an ideological U-turn in the past year, mostly due to the widely documented atrocities Russian servicemen…

Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was re-elected with 87.1% of the vote on Sunday, the country’s Central Election Commission said on Monday citing preliminary results. More than 15 million voters participated in Sunday’s elections. Mirziyoyev, who has led Central Asia’s most populous nation since 2016, called a snap election after changing the constitution through a referendum which reset his term count and extended the presidential term from five to seven years. Mirziyoyev, who ran against three largely unknown candidates from the Ecological Party, the People’s Democratic Party and the Adolat Social Democratic Party, was largely expected to secure a majority of votes. Mirziyoyev had…

In the episode of Focus, we hear about the steps Uzbekistan is taking to modernise its irrigation system, as the country looks to improve water supply to its agriculture sector and slash carbon emissions. Uzbekistan is modernising its regional irrigation system to improve water supply to the agricultural sector. In South Karakalpakstan, gravity is now being used instead of electric pumps to irrigate the fields. A recent major infrastructure project is also drastically reducing the loss of a major resource – water. The Bustan Canal is a major water artery. Before its reconstruction, it was an earthen canal, and seepage was…

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon received Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov on July 21, who arrived in Dushanbe on a working visit. The parties discussed current bilateral cooperation and its prospects, president’s press service reported. They noted a positive trend in growth of bilateral trade. President Rahmon noted big opportunities in different industrial sectors, energy sector, transport, agriculture, tourism and other areas of a mutual interest. Further development of cooperation in light and food industries, non-ferrous industry, car making, agroindustrial complex was suggested. Interest in further expansion of cultural and humanitarian exchanges was expressed. President Rahmon emphasized importance of…

Through cultural preservation, the United States shows its respect for the cultural heritage and the identity of other nations while also contributing to their tourism and economic development potential. The U.S. Department of State is fortunate to have the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) as an incredibly powerful tool to help us do just that. Launched in April 2001, AFCP puts out a call annually for projects wishing to receive funding to a limited number of developing countries. The competition is fierce and there is never enough money to fund every project. Even so, AFCP has supported more than 1,200 projects…

The Better Cotton initiative has developed and signed a sustainability roadmap with key stakeholders in Uzbekistan to drive further improvements in the country’s cotton sector. A global boycott of cotton from Uzbekistan – the world’s sixth largest cotton producer – was lifted last year after the Cotton Campaign coalition concluded that government-imposed forced labour had been eradicated. Better Cotton’s senior programme manager Rachel Beckett presented the roadmap to delegates, including representatives from business, government, civil society, NGOs and educational bodies, at Tashkent Textile Week. Source: ECOTEXTILE News

A nuclear power plant (NPP) of Russian design will be built in Uzbekistan, trend report. This is a flagship project of bilateral economic relations between Russia and Uzbekistan. The agreement on the main terms of the general contract is almost ready, Russian MFA commented. An agreement was signed in 2018 between Uzbekistan and Russia on the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Jizzakh region near Tuzkan Lake. Meanwhile, it became known in early 2023 that both countries are actively working on a contract for the construction of a nuclear power plant. It is expected that the power plant…

Despite the complex geopolitical processes, conflicts and various crises taking place in the world, Uzbekistan promotes its national interests and effectively implements its peaceful foreign policy as a full-fledged actor of international relations. The amendments and additions to the updated Constitution improve amongst others the constitutional foundations of the peaceful foreign policy of Uzbekistan. In particular, it is determined that Uzbekistan will strive to strengthen and develop friendly relations with the world community, primarily with neighbouring states on the basis of cooperation, mutual support, peace and harmony. Indeed, for the last years following the prioritization of the development of friendly…