Uzbekistan - The Times Of Central Asia

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U.S.-Uzbekistan Partnership

Uzbekistan Seeks U.S. Partners for Infrastructure Expansion

Uzbekistan sought American financing and technology for electricity networks, data centers and transport infrastructure at a Washington business roundtable on November 9. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce breakfast, held alongside the Business 20 (B20) summit, the G20’s business engagement forum, featured a delegation led by Laziz Kudratov, Uzbekistan’s minister of investment, industry and trade. Uzbekistan’s ambassador to the United States, Furqat Sidikov, introduced the delegation, while Jennifer Miel, the Chamber’s vice president for the Middle East, Central Asia and Türkiye, moderated the discussion. “We want to build on this momentum and develop new mutually beneficial partnerships,” Kudratov told participants. He pointed to changes in currency conversion, profit repatriation and tax administration since reforms that began in 2017. Uzbekistan’s economy grew by 7.7% in 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund, which has also called for stronger competition and a reduced state role to support private-sector growth. Electricity Networks and Transport Financing First Deputy Energy Minister Umid Mamadaminov said Uzbekistan’s expansion of electricity generation had created a pressing need to strengthen the networks carrying power to households and businesses. He estimated that transmission and distribution upgrades would require at least $5 billion over the next four to five years. New wind and solar capacity in northwestern Uzbekistan would need additional connections to major centers of demand, alongside digital modernization of the electricity system. The next phase would involve the “digital transformation of the energy industry,” Mamadaminov said. He invited American businesses to participate through technology provision and financing, including partnerships with developers from other countries. On October 27, the World Bank approved a $100 million loan for electricity distribution modernization, alongside $200 million approved by the Asian Development Bank. The World Bank described aging infrastructure and overloaded substations as constraints on reliable supply and the integration of renewable generation. Mamadaminov also highlighted the proposed green electricity corridor connecting Central Asia with Europe through Azerbaijan. The initiative remains in preparation, with ADB and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank supporting feasibility work on the cross-border transmission project. On transport, Kudratov discussed the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway, expanded Caspian shipping connections, and feasibility work on a Trans-Afghan railway as elements of Uzbekistan’s efforts to diversify its trade routes. He also highlighted prospective U.S. financing for Tashkent’s new international airport. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation is considering a direct loan of up to $700 million for the airport’s construction, development and operation. The airport’s first phase is designed to accommodate up to 20 million passengers annually. IT Exports, Data Centers and AI Deputy Minister of Digital Technologies Rustam Karimjonov emphasized technology services as a source of employment and export earnings, identifying the United States as an important market for further expansion. He highlighted workforce training and support for businesses operating through IT Park. Artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, education technology and data centers were among the priorities presented to prospective partners. Official statistics show that service exports by IT Park participants rose from approximately $454.9 million in 2024 to $728.4 million in 2025. Those figures measure exports by...

Aral Sea

Uzbekistan Announces $3.3 Billion in Aral Sea Projects

Uzbekistan has prepared 133 projects worth a combined $3.3 billion for its 2027–2029 chairmanship of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS). The initiatives include upgrading water infrastructure and establishing a regional early warning system for floods and droughts. Uzbekistan plans to obtain financing from international development banks and climate funds. The $3.3 billion represents the estimated cost of the proposed projects, rather than funding already secured. Under a separate November 5 presidential resolution, Uzbekistan plans to plant forests across 50,000 hectares of the dried Aral Sea bed in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan heavily affected by the desiccation of the Aral Sea. Work is scheduled to begin on April 1, 2027. Planting trees and shrubs on the exposed seabed helps stabilize the soil and limit the spread of salt-laden dust. The five Central Asian countries established IFAS in 1993 in response to the Aral Sea crisis. The fund coordinates regional cooperation on water management and environmental protection across the Amu Darya and Syr Darya basins. The Aral Sea shrank dramatically after Soviet irrigation projects diverted water from its two main feeder rivers to agriculture, particularly cotton farming. The retreat devastated fishing communities and exposed a salt-covered seabed, creating dust storms that damage farmland and threaten public health. Some of these dust storms are so vast they are visible from space, carrying salt and agricultural chemical residues across the region. By 2007, the sea had lost approximately 90% of its original water volume. Uzbekistan will take over the fund's chairmanship from Kazakhstan in 2027. Its plans also include improving access to drinking water and establishing a shared database for the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins. Uzbekistan also hopes to generate revenue by selling carbon credits associated with carbon dioxide absorbed by the new vegetation. The resolution calls for talks with potential foreign partners and directs that net proceeds from carbon-credit sales, after project costs, go to Karakalpakstan's local budget. Separately, a study has suggested that restoring water cover over parts of the Aral Sea could prevent the release of up to 605 million metric tons of CO₂ from exposed sediments. Researchers estimated the potential value of those avoided emissions at $3.6 billion to $18 billion in carbon credits.

Media Ownership

Uzbekistan Media: 67% Privately Owned as Survey Highlights Press Freedom Concerns

Privately owned outlets now account for 67% of Uzbekistan’s media, presidential press secretary Sherzod Asadov said at the third Uzbekistan-Russia Media Forum in Tashkent on November 9. He said internet coverage had reached 94% and discussed the development of digital content and the launch of what he described as Central Asia’s first national media bank, an online collection of photographs and videos. The forum was organized by the Uzbekistan National News Agency and Russia’s TASS news agency. Asadov identified journalist training, joint fact-checking, and the use of AI as areas for cooperation between the two countries. "Information attacks and fake news must not become a source of mistrust and disagreement between our countries and peoples," Asadov said. Uzbekistan ranks 147th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). RSF says censorship and self-censorship remain prevalent in the country. The National Study of Media Consumption in Uzbekistan, based on interviews with 1,411 adults in September, found that 56.5% considered stronger legal guarantees of freedom of speech necessary to improve media independence. Of those surveyed, 30.7% called for better professional training for journalists, and 25.9% supported the development of independent media platforms and private news agencies. Respondents also called for improved access to international news and tougher penalties for obstructing journalists’ work. Participants could select up to three measures to improve media independence. The survey also found that 51.6% of respondents used Telegram channels for domestic news, while television was the most trusted source of information for 44.3% of participants.

Uzbek Crafts

Uzbekistan Showcases Traditional Crafts at Design Doha

Three Uzbek artists are transforming traditional floral designs into glass sculptures, embroidered textiles, and miniature paintings at the second Design Doha Biennial in Qatar. Their exhibition, A Leaf from the Rose Garden, takes its inspiration from a 13th-century Persian literary classic. Organized by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), the exhibition opened on November 5, 2026, and runs until January 31, 2027. It brings together Tashkent-based artists Ruben Saakyan and Madina Kasimbaeva, alongside Bukhara-based artist Davlat Toshev, each exploring floral ornamentation through a different material and technique. [caption id="attachment_60229" align="aligncenter" width="624"] Participating Artists for A Leaf from the Rose Garden, commissioned by ACDF at Design Doha Biennial 2026. Ruben Saakyan, Madina Kasimbaeva and Davlat Toshev.[/caption] The venue is a traditional courtyard house in Fereej Al Asmakh, one of Doha’s oldest historic districts. The title refers to Gulistan (The Rose Garden), a collection written in 1258 by Persian poet Saadi Shirazi. In the work’s preface, Saadi compares the short-lived beauty of a cut flower with the lasting nature of a garden preserved through literature. The exhibition explores how artistic traditions can survive across generations through the skills and knowledge passed between craftspeople. Floral ornament has a long history in Uzbekistan’s visual culture, appearing in textiles, ceramics, manuscripts, and architecture. Although these patterns have been preserved over centuries, artists have continued to adapt them to different materials and individual styles. “A Leaf from the Rose Garden reflects an idea central to our work at ACDF: that cultural heritage is sustained through the people who continue to practise, reinterpret and transform it,” Gayane Umerova, ACDF’s chairperson, said in a statement. Three artists, one floral motif Saakyan, a floral artist and designer, presents a large-scale installation of glass flowers in the house’s central courtyard. The installation builds on his earlier project, Fragile Garden: The Embroidery of Uzbekistan Crafted from Murano Glass, presented in Venice in 2024. [caption id="attachment_60344" align="aligncenter" width="956"] Portrait of artist Madina Kasimbaeva.[/caption] Developed with Venetian glassware company Laguna~B and its Murano glassmakers, that work transformed motifs from Bukhara embroidery into more than 500 handmade glass elements. For the Doha exhibition, the concept has been adapted to create a garden in which the delicate colors and contours of flowers are preserved in glass. The choice of material also introduces a contrast between fragility and permanence, with glass capturing forms that would otherwise change and disappear. Kasimbaeva, a master of traditional suzani embroidery, contributes textiles whose floral patterns are rendered in colored threads and intricate stitching. Suzani embroidery has traditionally been associated with family life, celebrations, and the transfer of artistic knowledge between generations. Kasimbaeva’s works retain these connections while exploring how established patterns can be reinterpreted through contemporary design. Toshev works with miniature painting, calligraphy, and traditional papermaking. His contribution combines the precision of miniature painting with the fluid patterns of ebru, a marbling technique in which designs are created on the surface of water and transferred onto paper. Five-year partnership expands cultural cooperation Uzbekistan’s participation in the biennial comes...

Cotton

Is Cotton Back in Fashion in Uzbekistan?

Just a few months ago, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was criticizing cotton production in Uzbekistan’s history as having turned people into “slaves of cotton.” However, figures released at the start of November showed Uzbekistan gathered the largest cotton harvest in its 35 years as an independent country, some 5 million tons. Mirziyoyev is now planning to open new cotton fields and boost cotton production using modern technology. Controversial Legacy Uzbekistan has long been associated with cotton. Tsarist Russian troops occupied most of what is now Uzbekistan between 1860 and 1875, coinciding with Russia’s loss of cotton imports from the United States that started with the beginning of the civil war there. Central Asia quickly became one of Russia’s biggest suppliers of cotton. Under the Soviet government, cotton production was expanded. Canals were dug, bringing water from rivers to the ever-expanding cotton fields being planted. Eventually, this led to the desiccation of the Aral Sea, once the fourth largest lake in the world. Now, more than 90% has dried up. In Soviet times, gathering the cotton harvest was promoted as a patriotic duty, and citizens were expected to voluntarily go into the fields and help. Many who would not go voluntarily were forced to. This practice continued after the Soviet Union collapsed in late 1991 and Uzbekistan became independent. Cotton was “oq oltyn,” Uzbekistan’s “white gold,” and its export was an important source of hard currency for the newly-independent state. Between 1 and 2 million people were conscripted annually to pick cotton at harvest time: “schoolchildren, students, teachers, and public-sector employees.” For many soldiers, picking cotton was part of their duty. In 2009, the international coalition Cotton Campaign started calling for a boycott of Uzbek cotton until Uzbekistan’s government stopped using forced labor. Many companies, mostly Western, honored the boycott. Mirziyoyev was speaking about this history, and shortly after he became president in late 2016, Uzbekistan started eliminating the use of child labor, then forced labor generally, and offering people wages to pick cotton at harvest time. By early 2022, the International Labor Organization reported that forced labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton fields had been nearly eradicated and “99% of those involved in the 2021 cotton harvest worked voluntarily.” Down with Cotton In July 2017, Mirziyoyev said, “Instead of [cotton], we should grow fruit and vegetables, melons and marrows, which are more profitable.” Later that same year, Mirziyoyev recalled the years he was put in charge of Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest, saying the government “never paid people a salary,” and that it was a humiliation for Uzbekistan. Mirziyoyev ordered some of the country’s cotton fields to be converted into land for edible crops. In 1990, the last year Uzbekistan harvested some 5 million tons of cotton, about 1.83 million hectares of land were used for cotton production. Up with Cotton In 2026, some 890,000 hectares of land were used for cotton-growing, and during a visit to the eastern Ferghana Province in April 2026, Mirziyoyev ordered an additional 50,000 hectares of “low-yield” cotton and...

Samarkand Marathon

Petrov Leads Uzbekistan’s Athletes in Samarkand Marathon

Uzbekistan´s runners posted a strong showing in the Samarkand Marathon on Sunday. Andrey Petrov was second overall with a time of 2:16:02 in the race, which is among the more high-profile marathons staged in Central Asia. Shokhrukh Davlatov finished in sixth place overall in 2:19:50. On the women’s side, Yekaterina Tunguskova was sixth in 2:43:13. Leonard Barsoton of Kenya won the men’s marathon in 2:15:44 and Obse Abdeta of Ethiopia was the top woman to finish, posting a time of 2:39:25. The results were posted by marathon organizers and on the World Athletics website. Petrov, 40, is a two-time silver medalist in the Asian Marathon Championships. He represented Uzbekistan at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but didn’t finish the marathon there. After that disappointment, he successfully completed the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in 2019, finishing in 49th place. Davlatov, 30, notched a time of 2:07:02 in the Valencia Marathon in 2023, breaking an Uzbek national marathon record that had stood for nearly four decades. He failed to finish the marathon in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Tunguskova, 38, represented Uzbekistan at the 2016 Olympic Games, registering a “did not finish” outcome in the women’s 10,000 meters. In Kazakhstan this year, she won the Turkistan Marathon and came second in the Almaty Marathon. Dilfuza Allayarova, who finished the marathon in 3:28:34, has perhaps the most unusual story among the Uzbek marathon runners. She is a 56-year-old schoolteacher from the Tashkent region who took up running relatively late in life. In 2024, she won the Sydney Marathon in the 50-54 age category, finishing in 2:55:53.