Uzbekistan Features - The Times Of Central Asia

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Child Protection Laws

Uzbekistan Introduces Life Imprisonment for Rape of Children Under 14

Uzbekistan has introduced penalties of 15 to 25 years in prison or life imprisonment for rape and certain other serious sexual offenses against children under 14. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a law eliminating the statute of limitations for prosecuting these crimes. The amendments affect five codes and six laws and expand legal protections for children against physical and psychological violence, including abuse by relatives and educational staff. For intentional crimes resulting in a child's death, suspended sentences and early release on parole will be prohibited. “Violence against a young child can never be tolerated, and punishment must be inevitable and uncompromising,” Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the Presidential Administration, wrote on her Telegram channel. Children who have experienced or witnessed violence will be entitled to free state-funded legal assistance from the moment they become involved in legal proceedings. If a parent, adoptive parent, guardian, or another relative is suspected of the crime, a representative of the guardianship authorities must also protect the child's interests during the investigation and trial. In schools and other educational institutions, staff responsible for teaching or caring for children can be dismissed if held legally responsible for violence against a child. The legislation was approved following a high-profile case in the Namangan region, where reports emerged of alleged sexual violence against a five-year-old girl at a state-run kindergarten in the Uchqurgan district. The case sparked public outrage and debate over appropriate punishment for those responsible. Mirziyoyeva previously stated that responsibility should extend to both the direct perpetrators and officials whose negligence may have allowed the alleged assault to take place. According to the Oliy Majlis, Uzbekistan's parliament, 445 criminal cases involving the rape of children under 14 were opened in the country between 2022 and 2025. The amendments passed the lower house of parliament on September 30, following a first reading on September 29, and were approved by the Senate on October 2.

Delivery Couriers

Uzbekistan Delivery Drivers Under Police Scrutiny: Why Tashkent Lacks Space for Mopeds

A delivery courier in Tashkent says police confiscated the electric bicycle he used to deliver orders after demanding a driver's license, leaving him unable to work. In an early October video appeal, the man said his bicycle could not exceed 25 kilometers per hour and that he did not ride on roads used by cars. Economist Otabek Bakirov published the video amid increasingly frequent police inspections of moped and scooter riders, including delivery workers. Police have justified the inspections by pointing to traffic accidents. Figures released in early October put the number of accidents involving mopeds and scooters in Uzbekistan this year at 563, leaving 89 people dead and another 488 injured. But how well are Tashkent's streets equipped to accommodate the vehicles used by thousands of delivery workers every day? Thousands of Violations and New Regulations According to the Road Traffic Safety Service of Uzbekistan's Ministry of Internal Affairs, inspectors recorded 4,312 violations involving moped and scooter riders in 2026, about 14 times the number recorded throughout 2025. The agency attributes accidents partly to riders lacking driver's licenses and having insufficient knowledge of traffic rules. However, the sharp increase in recorded violations also coincides with new requirements for riders and more frequent police inspections. In early October, Tashkent police publicly explained another incident involving a motorized two-wheeler. On the night of October 2, inspectors stopped a man on Amir Temur Street because, according to their account, his vehicle was obstructing traffic. It had a homemade attachment that restricted visibility, while the rider's clothing lacked reflective elements. He also did not have the required documents. Since October 2025, Uzbekistan has required mopeds and scooters to be registered. In January 2026, the country introduced a simplified A1 driver's license subcategory for mopeds and certain other low-powered vehicles. This can be obtained by passing theoretical and practical exams, without compulsory driving-school training. Drivers who hold Uzbekistan's national licenses in categories A, B, C, or D do not need a separate A1 license. A vehicle's legal classification depends on its technical specifications. For example, ordinary electric kick scooters are classified as personal mobility devices and do not require a license. Couriers and Delivery Services In 2025, the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan estimated that there were approximately 130,000 couriers across the country making deliveries on bicycles, mopeds, and scooters. For students, people from other regions, and those without steady employment, delivery work can offer a way to earn money quickly. However, couriers often have to cover vehicle expenses, documentation costs, and fines themselves. Amid the police inspections, Sardor Kadyrov, vice president of Yandex Uzbekistan, presented his own figures. According to his estimates, couriers have received fines totaling nearly 4.7 billion soums, approximately $390,000, since the beginning of 2026. Missing documents accounted for only about 8% of the violations he cited, which covered motorcycle, scooter, and moped riders. Kadyrov also claimed that mopeds were involved in fewer than 6% of all recorded traffic accidents. His figures cover mopeds alone, while the Road Traffic Safety...

Railway Economics

Opinion: China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway: Turning Transit Into Local Benefits

At the eighth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia and Azerbaijan on October 8, 2026, Azerbaijan joined the forum as a full member after three years of participation as a guest of honor. President Ilham Aliyev stated that “Transport is one of the primary areas of cooperation between Central Asia and Azerbaijan”. Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev called for comprehensive infrastructure along the routes, with logistics hubs and service centers supporting production facilities and industrial zones to generate economic activity around the transport corridors. Construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is among Uzbekistan’s transport priorities and is important for Kyrgyzstan, making this “integrated transport corridor development” approach particularly relevant. Construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway (also known as the Kashgar-Torugart-Makmal-Jalal-Abad-Andijan railway) has been underway since December 2024. Public discussion of the project focuses mainly on shorter routes linking China and Central Asia with the Middle East and Europe, and on the line’s design carrying capacity. However, growth in transit traffic does not in itself guarantee economic benefits for the Naryn and Jalal-Abad regions of Kyrgyzstan or the Andijan region of Uzbekistan. Local economic impact depends on whether freight services and tariff policy allow small shippers to use the railway’s stations. Border delays can limit those benefits, as can a lack of storage and processing infrastructure nearby. What the Project Involves The intergovernmental agreement on the implementation of the project was signed by China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan on June 6, 2024. The joint project company was registered in July 2024, the investment agreement was signed on December 20, 2024, and construction officially began on December 27, 2024, in Jalal-Abad. According to the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan, the total length of the line is 532.53 km; 20 stations are planned, including two border stations, one transshipment station, four intermediate stations, and 13 passing loops. The Makmal transshipment station will be the transfer point between China’s 1,435 mm track gauge and the 1,520 mm gauge used in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. From Torugart to Makmal, the 165.5 km section will use the Chinese gauge. The 146.26 km section from Makmal to Jalal-Abad will use the wider gauge, connecting to the existing network toward Andijan. At Makmal, containers will be sorted and transferred between trains. Wagons can instead have their wheel assemblies changed to run on the other gauge. Freight trains will be assembled or split up at the station, which will also have facilities to weigh wagons and cargo. The parties estimate the cost of the project at USD 4.7 billion. Under the loan agreement signed on December 16, 2025, about USD 2.3 billion is provided by a syndicate of Chinese banks as a 35-year loan to the project company. Another USD 2.3 billion or so forms the project company’s charter capital. China holds 51% of the shares, while Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan each hold 24.5%. As of October 2026, construction is underway along the entire length of the route. In September 2026, the project company reported the completion of the first tunnel...

AI Training

Women in Tech Uzbekistan Forum Highlights Growing Demand for AI Skills

Uzbekistan is attracting foreign technology companies, expanding IT education, and training young people to work with artificial intelligence. But employers’ needs are changing faster than educational programs can adapt. Just a few years ago, companies were looking for programmers, then cloud technology specialists. Now they need developers capable of building AI systems and autonomous digital agents. Against this backdrop, discussions in Tashkent are focusing on how to increase women’s participation in the technology industry and enable them not only to learn new tools but also to develop their own products. These issues took center stage at the Women in Tech Leadership Forum, held on October 13 at Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Digital Technologies. The event brought together approximately 300 representatives of government agencies, international organizations, technology companies, and the business community. It was organized by the ministry and Women in Tech Uzbekistan, the national chapter of an international organization working to expand women’s participation in technology. [caption id="attachment_58421" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Kamola Sobirova, an adviser to Uzbekistan’s Minister of Digital Technologies[/caption] Employers Need More Than Programmers Kamola Sobirova, an adviser to Uzbekistan’s Minister of Digital Technologies, explained in an exclusive interview with The Times of Central Asia how international companies’ requirements for local specialists have changed. “A few years ago, there was high demand for programmers. A year or two later, companies started asking us for cloud technology specialists. Then artificial intelligence emerged, and companies needed AI architects and prompt engineers,” Sobirova said. According to Sobirova, employers are now looking for specialists who can develop AI agents – software systems capable of independently carrying out sequences of tasks using artificial intelligence. “We cannot afford to stand still because technology continues to evolve. We must train specialists with up-to-date skills and create the right conditions for them,” she said. Uzbekistan previously ran the One Million Uzbek Coders program and has since launched the Five Million AI Leaders initiative. These programs are designed to provide large-scale training in digital skills, including programming and working with artificial intelligence. AI and the future of women’s work The question of whether AI will eliminate jobs was also raised during the interview. Sobirova rejected the idea that the main effect of AI would simply be widespread job losses. “There is a trend that everyone thinks AI will take over many professions and replace them, or that artificial intelligence has arrived and we will lose our jobs, but it is not like that,” she said. “Artificial intelligence will take the jobs of people who do not have artificial intelligence skills.” She argued that AI should increasingly be viewed as a tool that allows people to work more efficiently rather than simply as a replacement for workers. “Life has become much faster, and in this process artificial intelligence can help us become full users of AI and optimize our work,” Sobirova said. She also said the same principle applies to journalism and other media-related work, where AI can be used to support different parts of the workflow. “Coursera [an online...

Global Power Rankings

Kazakhstan Ranks 34th, Uzbekistan 71st Among World’s Most Powerful Countries

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were the only Central Asian countries included in World Population Review’s 2026 ranking of the world’s 100 most powerful countries, placing 34th and 71st, respectively. Kazakhstan ranked immediately ahead of Egypt (35th), and also placed above the United Arab Emirates (37th), South Africa (38th), Norway (39th), Saudi Arabia (40th), Pakistan (42nd), and Iran (46th). Among former Soviet republics, Russia ranked higher, in 11th place, while Ukraine came in 51st and Belarus 57th. Uzbekistan placed below Cambodia (69th) and Oman (70th), but ahead of Sri Lanka (72nd), Estonia (75th), Kenya (77th), Algeria (79th), and Armenia (80th). World Population Review attributes the ranking to the Best Countries study by U.S. News & World Report. The assessment considers perceptions of countries’ economic and political influence, military strength, international alliances, and leadership. Kazakhstan’s international standing is supported by its established energy and mining industries and extensive diplomatic relationships. The country is the world’s largest uranium producer, accounting for approximately 40% of global mine output in 2025. It also exported 78.7 million tons of oil that year, supplying international energy markets through an extensive network of pipelines and commercial partnerships. Its multivector foreign policy has allowed Astana to maintain relationships with Russia and China while expanding economic and political cooperation with the United States, Europe, and other partners. Kazakhstan’s uranium industry illustrates this approach, with established customers and industrial partnerships spanning several competing geopolitical blocs. Kazakhstan’s existing railway network, connections with China, and Caspian ports also support its role in international trade between Asia and Europe. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, commonly known as the Middle Corridor, carried approximately 4.1 million tons of freight in 2025, including around 77,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of container traffic. Uzbekistan’s $147 billion economy in 2025 was larger than those of Oman ($110 billion), Sri Lanka ($109 billion), and Kenya ($136 billion), all ranked in the same range. Algeria, despite an economy approaching $287 billion and its role as a major natural gas supplier to Europe, ranked eight places below Uzbekistan. Beyond economic size, Uzbekistan has an established position in global mineral markets. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it was the world’s fifth-largest uranium producer and ninth-largest gold producer in 2024, accounting for 6.6% and 3.9% of global output, respectively. These industries provide an important source of international economic engagement, alongside a domestic market of approximately 39 million people. The ranking’s top 10 were China, the United States, India, Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Italy. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan did not appear among the 100 countries listed.

Innovation Rankings

Central Asia in the Global Innovation Rankings: Supercomputers, Engineers, and the Economics of Government Ambitions

In the Global Innovation Index (GII), published on September 29 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Kazakhstan climbed eight places to rank 73rd among 139 economies. Uzbekistan ranked 77th and Kyrgyzstan 92nd. Tajikistan placed 112th, while Turkmenistan was not included in the study. The overall rankings, however, conceal some interesting details. Uzbekistan ranks second worldwide in the share of graduates in science and engineering. Kyrgyzstan ranks second in labor productivity growth, while Tajikistan leads in utility model applications relative to the size of its economy. Utility models are a simpler form of patent protection, usually for smaller inventions. Such strong results in individual indicators stand in contrast to the countries' relatively modest overall rankings. Part of the explanation lies in the study's methodology. WIPO evaluates education and scientific capacity alongside infrastructure and investment. It also considers business activity and research output. A country may train large numbers of engineers or register technical innovations while lagging in research output and investment, with limited commercial activity. For Central Asia, the rankings also offer a way to compare economic performance with the scale of governments' technological ambitions. Kazakhstan: Supercomputers in Search of Customers In recent years, Kazakhstan has assembled an impressive portfolio of digital projects. The Alem.Cloud and Al-Farabium supercomputers, along with the Data Center Valley project in Ekibastuz, are intended to improve the country's computing infrastructure. The Alem.ai artificial intelligence (AI) center and the KazLLM and AlemLLM large language models are designed to develop its AI capabilities. Training opportunities are also expanding through AI-Sana and Tomorrow School, with TUMO Astana offering education in AI and other digital fields. However, the wider use of AI remains relatively modest. The Digital Qazaqstan strategy through 2029 cites figures for the second half of 2025 showing that generative AI adoption in Kazakhstan stood at 13.7%, compared with a global average of 16.3%. Kazakhstan ranked 24th in the United Nations (UN) E-Government Development Index in its 2024 survey but 73rd in the 2026 GII. Kazakhstan's digitalization model has long centered on government services. The country's high position in the UN study reflects this focus. Commercial technologies present a more complicated picture: here, the government must rely on research teams, private developers, investors, and customers willing to pay for their services. The arrival of supercomputers expands the country's technical capabilities. How extensively they will be used outside government projects remains to be seen. Uzbekistan: Engineering Education and IT Services Exports The country has long focused on workforce development for the IT industry. An export-oriented digital services sector is growing around IT Park. Foreign companies are operating in the country, while training programs in programming and AI are expanding. Tashkent intends to support its workforce development policies with domestic computing infrastructure. Under the AI development strategy adopted in 2024, Uzbekistan plans $50 million in AI infrastructure spending and the training of one million specialists. AI laboratories are also planned at 15 universities. A smaller supercomputer is already operating, and preparations are underway to acquire a more powerful system....