Introduction
Uzbekistan, located in central Asia, is the only country that shares borders with all Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. To the south, it borders Afghanistan. As one of only two dual-landlocked countries in the world, along with Liechtenstein in Europe, it must transit through at least two countries to enter the ocean.
The official name is ‘Republic of Uzbekistan’, which means ‘Land of the Uzbeks’. The term Uzbek appeared around the 16th century, and there are various opinions about the origin of the term. Although it is a multi-ethnic society made up of various ethnic groups, the proportion of Uzbeks among the total population is absolute, at about 84%. Regarding religion, the proportion of Sunni Muslims is about 88%.
The largest city in Uzbekistan is the capital, Tashkent, located in the northern part of Uzbekistan, adjacent to the border with Kazakhstan. In addition, Samarkand and Bukhara in the south, Khiva in the west, and Kokand in the east are representative cities and historical and cultural cities of Uzbekistan and were the capitals of the Khanate during the Middle Ages. Due to its geographical advantage of being located in the center of Eurasia, it historically served as a transportation hub and crossroads on the Silk Road. Because major powers from Europe and Asia invaded and dominated this area, various cultures still coexist. In the late 19th century, it was invaded and dominated by Tsarist Russia and later incorporated into the Soviet Union. Establishing the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, which later became independent as Uzbekistan on September 1, 1991.
History
Uzbekistan historically served as a hub on the Silk Road. Caravans departing from China had to pass through Central Asia to reach India, Iran, the Middle East, and Europe, and at the center were the oasis cities that exist in present-day Uzbekistan. In particular, Samarkand, today’s second-largest city after the capital Tashkent, was evaluated as the center of the Silk Road. Since present-day Uzbekistan was the place where caravans moving from east to west and south to north had to stop and rest for a while on their tiring journey, merchants from various countries gathered here to exchange information and trade products.
However, this geographical value has historically brought misfortune to the region. At the time, powerful countries sought to directly retain the functions of the region by invading and dominating Uzbekistan, the hub of the Silk Road. Led by Alexander the Great in ancient times, Genghis Khan in the Middle Ages, and the Russian Empire in modern times, the contemporary powers of the East and West continuously attempted to invade and dominate what is now Uzbekistan and achieved their goal. The legacy that this history left behind in Uzbekistan was a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society and the cultural remnants of the countries that ruled there. Therefore, it can be said that each sector of culture currently appearing in Uzbekistan has been influenced by this historical legacy.
Hub of the Silk Road
The driving forces behind Uzbekistan’s historical development are as follows:. Because current Uzbekistan is located in the center of the Silk Road, it served as a hub for humanity and logistics on the Eurasian continent from ancient times to modern times. Through these functions, Eastern and Western civilizations such as Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam spread and developed across the Eurasian continent.
History of invasion and dominance by foreigners
Current Uzbekistan, which functioned as a hub of the Silk Road, was a place that contemporary Eastern and Western powers wanted to own due to the richness of the oases in the region. After the existence of the early Central Asian states of Khorazm, Sogd, and Bactria, which arose in the ancient Uzbekistan region, neighboring nations such as the Persian Empire, Greece, the Ottoman Empire, the Arabs, the Mongol Empire, and Russia continued to invade them. and rule. Among them, only the Timurid Dynasty, which established Samarkand as its capital in the 14th century and prospered for about 150 years, ruled around this area. As a result, it can be said that the current territory of Uzbekistan has a history of traces of the transplantation of their civilizations while being dominated by Eastern and Western powers. This influence is still visible in various fields in Uzbekistan.
Soviet union
The distinct regional difference between Uzbekistan and Central Asia and other regions is that the Soviet system and Islamic culture coexist. The reason why this region, where Persian, Turkic, and Islamic civilizations coexist on the Eurasian continent, has regional characteristics that are different from Iran, Turkic, and the Middle East is because it has a history of belonging to the Soviet Union. Therefore, it would be wrong to judge that this place will have the same regional characteristics as the previous countries because it has the same civilization as countries such as Iran, Turkmenistan, and the Middle East. Rather, Uzbekistan is a place where Russian characteristics are more evident because it existed under the Soviet system. As a result, the legacies left behind by the Soviet system still strongly exist in the overall political, economic, and social culture of present-day Uzbekistan.
After independence from the Soviet Union in the 1990s
Uzbekistan’s independence was not achieved through a spontaneous and continuous internal struggle but was largely free-riding through the collapse of the Soviet system, resulting in various problems. The triple hardship that Uzbekistan faced upon gaining independence can be summarized as “regime transition, potential conflict factors formed during the Soviet period, and the former communist party’s rise to power.” Uzbekistan’s independence did not simply mean escaping from colonial rule; it also meant a turbulent period in which a new system was introduced. In addition, along with changes in the system represented by capitalism and democracy, issues of ethnicity, borders, and religion that were not revealed on the surface during the Soviet period are emerging as potential causes of conflict, creating various obstacles to the path of development that a newly weak country should pursue. began to appear. The policy with which Uzbekistan attempted to solve these problems was to establish a new national development ideology. Because the country in question is comprised of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural communities, it had difficulty implementing national policies in a unified form. Just as Soviet citizens moved through the central point called the Soviet Union in the past, Uzbekistan also needed a new ideology that would make its citizens participate in national policy and implementation. Therefore, what they chose was Uzbek-centered nationalism and the promotion of Islam. As such, as a new and weak country, the country faced the above triple hardship and chose the promotion of nationalism and Islam as one of the axes of its national development strategy, seeking to gain the support and participation of its citizens first. In particular, this movement was directly related to the construction of nation-state buildings, a recognized model for achieving national identity.
Politics of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan is divided into the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches, which are the three separation of powers of a democratic country, but the government structure is actually formed around a strong presidential system.
Executive
The president’s term of office is five years, and his main powers include military commander-in-chief, the right to veto laws, the right to declare a state of emergency, the right to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet members, the right to appoint and dismiss the prosecutor general and vice-chancellor, and the right to appoint and dismiss local government officials. Islam Karimov (January 30, 1938 – September 2, 2016) was inaugurated as the first president in December 1991, and his term was extended until 2000 through a referendum in 1995. He was re-elected in 2000, and then again in 2002, through constitutional amendments by referendum, extending his term to seven years. Karimov, who was elected president for the first seven-year term in December 2007, was re-elected in 2014, but died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage in September 2016. Shavkat Mirzioyev (July 24, 1957~) was elected in the December 2016 presidential election held after 25 years of dictatorship. The cabinet consists of a prime minister and five deputy prime ministers, and under them are 23 ministers and 11 committee chairs. The Prime Minister is nominated by the President and then elected with the consent of the National Assembly, and Cabinet members are appointed by the President based on the Prime Minister’s recommendation. The local government consists of 12 provincial governments and the Tashkent city government. The top official, ‘Hakim’, is elected in local elections every five years, and there is a local council. And the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan is under the control of the central government.
Legislature
Since January 2005, the Uzbekistan parliament has maintained a bicameral system with 100 seats in the Senate and 150 seats in the House of Representatives (Oliy Majlis). The Senate has a total of 100 seats, with a term of office of 5 years. 84 people, six of whom are not affiliated with political parties, are elected from the local councils of 12 provinces, corresponding to 14 provinces, Karakalpakstan Autonomous Oblast, and Tashkent City. The remaining 16 members are appointed by the President as experts in each field. The main powers of the Senate include the right to elect Constitutional Court judges and Supreme Court justices, the right to approve the appointment of the Director of the State Security Service (SSS) and the Prosecutor General, and the right to appoint and dismiss diplomatic envoys and central bank governors nominated by the President. Senators do not belong to any political party.
The House of Representatives has a five-year term and a total of 150 seats, of which 135 seats are elected through national referendums in local districts, and the remaining 15 seats are allocated to the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan. In the district vote, a person is elected if he or she receives 50% of the vote in the first round. If he or she does not receive 50% of the vote in the first round, he or she is finally elected through the second round of voting. There are 12 standing committees in the House of Representatives. In the 2020 general election, the House of Representatives was divided into 53 seats for the Liberal Democratic Party, 36 seats for the National Revival Democratic Party, 24 seats for the Justice Social Democratic Party, and 22 seats for the People’s Democratic Party. It was composed.
Judiciary
Uzbekistan’s judiciary consists of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, Higher Economic Court, military courts, Karakalpakstan Supreme Court for civil cases, provincial courts, and Tashkent courts. (Tashkent city court) court, Karakalpakstan Supreme Court, district courts and Tashkent courts related to criminal cases, Karakalpakstan economic courts, regional and Tashkent economic courts, and Karakalpakstan administrative courts consist of regional and Tashkent administrative courts. The Constitutional Court is comprised of a Chief Justice and five judges with a five-year term, and its role is in charge of determining the constitutionality of international treaties, domestic laws, and constitutions of autonomous republics and interpreting the Constitution and laws. The Supreme Court is the highest civil, criminal, economic, and administrative court and supervises the courts and military courts of each state and local area. The Prosecutor General is appointed by the President, receives consent from Congress, and supervises law enforcement. The Prosecutor General is prohibited from joining political parties or political organizations.
Economic Potential and Limitations
Uzbekistan is the country with the largest population in Central Asia, with a population of 34,695,553 as of 2021. The overall population shows an annual growth rate of 1.6% and the average age is relatively low at 26.5 years. The urban population ratio is only 50.6%, but it is increasing every year, so there is still a high possibility of the formation of a consumer market centered on large cities such as Tashkent in the future. Underground resources are also abundant, and according to data from the Uzbekistan National Statistical Office in 2018, major raw materials such as crude oil (600 million barrels), natural gas (1.1 trillion ㎥), gold (0.5 million tons), and uranium (66,000 tons) are abundant. and some are exported.
High logistics cost burden as a landlocked country
Uzbekistan is located in the center of Central Asia and is a ‘dual landlocked country’ that requires crossing two or more borders to reach the ocean, so the logistics environment is appearing as an obstacle to economic growth. Freight transportation is mainly done by rail (Trans-Siberian, Inland China), which requires long time and high costs. Rail transport takes about 50 days from Korea and more than 20 days from ports in neighboring countries, and higher transport costs (approximately 5,000 to 6,000 dollars per 40 feet) are incurred compared to other regions. According to the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) published by the World Bank Group in 2018, Uzbekistan ranked 99th out of 160 countries.
Import regulations and barriers
In order to foster the domestic manufacturing industry, in contrast to granting tax exemptions to new manufacturing facilities, relatively high tariffs and consumption taxes are imposed on products (automobiles, textile products, cosmetics, etc.) produced locally and sold in the domestic market. As a country that is not a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), new or revised technical barriers to trade (TBT) are being implemented according to the country’s policy needs.
In some cases, notification of this is not provided properly, which can lead to damage to foreign companies in related industries. It may continue. In February 2018, we are re-pursuing WTO membership through the presidential decree ‘Organizational measures for further rationalization of Uzbekistan’s external economic activities’, and are actively conducting joint research with major trade-related organizations and trade experts around the world.
Foreign investment attraction trends
In 2018, Uzbekistan’s foreign investment attraction amounted to approximately $3.9 billion, a 36.6% increase from the previous year. By region, Khashka Darya was 26.6%, Bukhara 13.4%, Tashkent 12.0%, and Navoiy 11.7%. By investment field, the electricity and gas utility industry accounted for the largest proportion at 34.2%, followed by manufacturing (26.6%), mining (19.6%), transportation and logistics (5.6%), and water and sewerage (2.5%). Looking at trends in foreign investment lending by investment field, loans in the oil and gas, information and communications, water and sewage, and waste disposal fields decreased, while those in fields such as textile sewing, transportation logistics, and food production and processing showed an increase.
Corporate management environment
In Doing Business (2019), a World Bank Group survey of 190 countries around the world, Uzbekistan ranked 76th, down two places from the previous year. By category, among the 10 categories, it ranked relatively high in corporate establishment (12th), power supply (35th), and contract conclusion (41st), and ranked 60th in corporate loans, protection of small investors, and taxes. Low scores in acquisition of construction permits (134th) and international trade environment (165th) were pointed out as the main reasons for the decline in the overall ranking.
Conclusion
As a country in central Asia, agriculture developed early on as it is located between the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers, and due to its geographical advantage of being located at the crossroads of the Silk Road in the past, it developed into a center of Central Asian history and culture. It became a vassal state of Tsarist Russia in the late 19th century, and in October 1924, the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was established as a member of the former Soviet Union. With the collapse of the former Soviet Union, it became fully independent in September 1991.