Uzbekistan celebrates its 30th anniversary of independence with historic achievements

On September 1， the Republic of Uzbekistan will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its independence. Today， Uzbekistan is a stable， dynamically developing state that confidently follows its own path of development and conducts an independent foreign policy.

After being elected President of Uzbekistan in December 2016， Shavkat Mirziyoyev identified the main tasks for the long-term development of the country. They formed the basis of a comprehensive program of large-scale reforms， which were formulated in the Action Strategy for the five priority areas of development of Uzbekistan in the period spanning 2017 to 2021.

The goal of implementing the principles of“human interests are above all” and “not the people serve the state bodies， but the state bodies serve the people” lies at the center of deep， systemic transformations in Uzbekistan. These principles are at the heart of the Uzbek leaders domestic policy， aimed at the systemic reform of the state and the modernization of the society.

Having initiated， in fact， unprecedented reforms， Uzbekistan is becoming a competitive state， ready， on the one hand， to respond effectively to modern challenges and threats， and， on the other hand， to use the opportunities that propel the trends of globalization. In recent years， Uzbekistan has been implementing large-scale reforms and modernization processes in all areas， which have become unstoppable.

Uzbekistan continues to develop confidently and dynamically， despite the fallout of the pandemic and negative trends in the global economy. Thus， Uzbekistan became one of the few countries that completed 2020 with a positive GDP growth， reaching 1.6 percent. It is expected that by the end of 2021， the Uzbek economy will continue to recover its pace of development， and its GDP will increase by approximately 5 percent.

New priorities for economic reforms

Uzbekistan is one of the few countries in the world with a fast-growing economy. Over the last decade， the nations GDP growth rate has been steadily exceeding the average rate for the group of leading countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Even during the pandemic crisis of 2020， Uzbekistan managed to maintain positive economic growth.

The new reform process， which began in 2017， aims to activate new factors of economic growth—improving the investment climate， expanding export potential， intensifying foreign trade， and strengthening macroeconomic stability. Significant milestones along this path were the liberalization of the foreign exchange market， visa simplification， the transition to a flat income tax scale of 12 percent， reducing a number of administrative costs of doing business， and opening branches of several renowned international universities. With the participation of foreign experts in 2017 alone， the country established 18 free economic zones and 77 small industrial zones， as well as 10 tech parks， all contributing to the accelerated development of the republics regions.