Analysis of Uzbekistan’s Experience in Development of National and Regional Strategies

Abstract

This study reflects a retrospective trend-oriented analysis of Uzbekistan’s experience in designing national and regional development strategies.It is shown that due to the impact of objective factors, it took Uzbekistan, like most of the postsoviet era states, several years after receiving independence in 1991 before developing long-term national and regional plans, programs, projects and strategies. Since 1997 annual economic programs have been developed in accordance with the proclaimed by the country’s leadership priorities of the national, sectoral or regional concentration of resources. However, the country’s long-term strategy was for the first time substantiated and developed only in 2016-2017. Global trends that exert considerable influence on the economy of Uzbekistan, new innovative technological capabilities, the country’s participation in the international division of labor and other factors were taken into consideration. The leadership of the country revealed those new opportunities that could accelerate the improvement of the quality of life of the population of Uzbekistan. It is these national interests that were taken into consideration in the elaboration and implementation of the “Strategy of Actions in five priority areas of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021”. This Strategy defines the main goal, targets, perspective directions and priorities of further modernization of the country.As for regional strategies, until 2000 Uzbekistan had no experience in developing them; there was no strategic vision for the long-term territorial development. Still, certain attempts were made to propose regional long-term development concepts, but due to the lack of professionals on strategizing and insufficient involvement of trained specialists and scholars in this activity, outdated methods of developing these programs and plans were used. As a result, in most cases they remained unviable.Nevertheless, the accumulated experience shows that long-term national and regional development strategies are indispensable in enhancing the quality of life of the population and ensuring the development of the relevant priority sectors of the economy more sustainable and targeted. This experience has undoubtedly confirmed that effective management of the socio-economic development of Uzbekistan and its regions can be achieved if national and regional strategies for medium-term and long-term development are designed in such a way that they are based on uniform methodological approaches, correlate well among themselves according to their goals and tasks, and are provided with necessary labor, material and financial resources and, ultimately, allow to improve the quality of life of the people of Uzbekistan.