Tazeen Akhtar | Central Asia Monistoring Desk | Islamabad | Camera Raja Ghulam Farid He was having an interaction with the experts of Uzbek Pak Relations at the Embassy where a roundtable was hoted by the Ambassador Alisher Tukhtaev on the address of the President to the Oliy Majlis (The Senate). DFM shed light on the main points of the address and sought observations and suggestions from the experts.
The participants discussed the visit of the President to Pakistan and its impacts on the development of bilateral cooperation between the two countries and two regions of Central Asia and South Asia with resepect to connectivity initiatives of Uzbekistan especially Trialateral Train from Uzbekistan to Pakistan.
President in his address shared the state of the state in terms of all aspects and sectors from basic Mahallah units to over all governance and improvement in various sectors with a special focus on the well being of the citizen and strengthening the economy of the country.
Uzbekistan has made leap forward towards economic stability. 9 years ago , it looked hard to take the economy to $100 billion but this year, for the first time, GDP crossed $145 billion.
President has set a target of exports this year to $33.4 billion. The gold reserves worth has increased more than $60 billion. Foreign investment reached $43.1 billion. The total investments have a share of 31.9 % in the national economy.
International rating of the country improved from BB to BB Plus. The mark up on foreign borrowings decreased than helped the country in lowering the payments on foreign loans less than $300 million.
Uzbekistan has attracted foreing investment of worth $130 billion. The country is expecting $140 billion this year and $50 billion in next year. The state has introduced condusive policies and environment for foreign investors. Uzbekistan is poised to take the GDP to $240 billion till 2030.
Uzbekistan has strengthened its position up to 71 points in the World Bank EdTech Readiness Index (ETRI). This means Uzbekistan is in TOP 10 countries of the world.
Uzbekistan has achieved the goal of poverty alleviation. More than 8.5 million people have been supported to come out of the poverty and live a standard life. Poverty alleviation has been made a national movement to get rid of it.
For industrialization and competition between the manufacturing sector, Uzbekistan is moving forward from State Control to Market Control. The country is going to fourth industrial revolution. A regulatory mechanism is being introduced that will pave the way to construction of smart factories.The First Deputy Foreign Minister and Ambassador of Uzbekistan shared the key points of the address of the President as a long-term vision aimed at promoting regional economic integration. They detailed the vision of the President for bringing prosperity for the nation in different spheres of life.
On the visit of the President to Pakistan, H.E Bakhromjon ALOEV, said that President Mirziyoyev’s upcoming visit to Islamabad would mark a significant step forward in Uzbek–Pakistani relations. He said both sides were preparing new initiatives covering trade, transport, energy, and digital technologies.
The minister said the visit would open new avenues for bilateral trade and investment, adding that important agreements would be signed to increase bilateral trade volume to $2 billion. He noted that although current trade volume was still below potential, it had been growing rapidly over the past few years.He also informed that tourism from Pakistan to Uzbekistan was continuously increasing, and around 25,000 Pakistani tourists were expected to visit Uzbekistan this year.
Ambassador Alisher Tukhtaev, said that the upcoming visit of President Mirziyoyev would act as a catalyst for bilateral economic and trade relations while enhancing regional integration. He said the launch of direct flights between Pakistan and Uzbekistan was a significant step by the Uzbek government to promote people-to-people contact and regional connectivity.
During President Mirziyoyev’s visit, various initiatives related to infrastructure development and regional connectivity would be discussed, and agreements across multiple sectors were expected to be signed.
The roundtable had a galaxy of the experts from various fields including media, think tanks, academia, civil society and former military officials. Among them were Maj Gen R Syed Khalid Amir Jafri, former Ambassador to Bosnia, Aamna Khan from Instititute of Strategic Studies Islamabd ISSI, Reema Shaukat from Institute of Regional Studies Islamabad IRS, Tazeen Akhtar Editor Pakistan in the World, Shams Abbasi, Associated Press of Pakistan, Lt Col R Khalid Temur Akram , Maarij Farooq from Daily Ettihad and many others.
Director of the South Asia and International Studies Analysis Centre, Gen (R) Syed Khalid Amir Jafri, said that enhanced cooperation between Pakistan and Uzbekistan at economic and security levels was essential and should be further expanded. He said both countries had developed modern security institutions and ongoing reforms would further strengthen them. He emphasized that regional peace was vital for sustainable economic development.
The experts , appreciating Uzbekistan’s economic progress, he said the country’s rapid growth resembled the Chinese economic miracle and was advancing on a sustainable path. They said that if the current momentum on trade targets, transport corridors, and technology partnerships continued, Pakistan-Uzbekistan relations were well-positioned to become a central connector in the emerging framework of regional integration between Central and South Asia.
Mr. Tazeen Akhtar, Editor Pakistan in the World, recalled his short meeting with First DFM in Tashkent and shared his views on Uzbekistan Pakistan relations that in his opinion , were growing gradually.
He mentioned the importance of Uzbekistan in Pakistan with a different perspective. He said, both sides enjoy close relations and strong cooperation in defence sector as well. Uzbekistan’s armed forces day is celebrated in General Headquarters of Pakistan in Rawalpindi for last many years. This gives rise to the impression that some defence agreement is also on the cards during the visit of the President.
On this, First DFM responded positively but did not share the details as the defence matters are mostly classified untill unless the concerned officials consider them shareable.
Mr. Tazeen Akhtar recommended Textile sector as one of the most promising sector to give boost to the level of bilateral trade volume as Uzbekistan is producing fine quality cotton and Pakistan needs it badly to revive this sector. Pakistan is losing cotton growth because the areas of cotton in south Punjab are witnessing more construction of housing schemes than saving the agriculture lands.
He shared his observations of visiting Samarkand State Medical University, Oriental University Tashkent. He suggested to take special care while signing agreements with Private Univesities because most of them do not fulfill the criteria and bilateral MoUs may affect the mutual ties that are based upon trust and respect.
He also mentioned the media reports about some train project from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan at Chaman Balochistan for Kazakhstan Pakistan Railway connectivity. A section of media, with reference to meeting of Ambassador Kazakhstan with Minister Railway Pakistan, reported that President Kazakhstan is siging an MoU of $7 billion in his visit to Pakistan. He said there is no information about this project and it does not look feasible. Moreover Kazakhstan can join Trilateral Train project of Uzbekistan Afghanistan Pakistan that is already in the process.
On this , First DFM, replied, neither Uzbekistan knows anything about that but we welcome Kazakhstan to join Trilateral Train project.
The embassy has published a booklet with Urdu translation of the address of the President for information of Pakistani readers. The copies of this booklet were available for the participants at the roundtable.
