This note summarises the work carried out by the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Programme as part of the OECD Central Asia Initiative. The work was completed in close co-operation with the government of Uzbekistan, in collaboration with the development community in the country, and with the participation of the private sector in Uzbekistan. The project was funded by the European Union and serves as the Policy Component of the Central Asia Invest Programme.
This report was prepared under the guidance of Mr Andreas Schaal, Director, OECD Global Relations and Co-operation Directorate; and Mr William Tompson, Head of the OECD Eurasia Division.
The main authors of this report are Ms Céleste Laporte Talamon, Policy Analyst, and Mr Dylan van de Ven, Junior Policy Analyst, OECD Eurasia Division. The project was managed by Mr Grégory Lecomte, Senior Policy Analyst and Head of the Central Asia Unit, and reviewed by Ms Amélie Schurich-Rey, Economist and Policy Analyst in the OECD Eurasia Division. Mr Insung Kwon and Mr David Halabisky from the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship provided analytical input and support. Final editorial and visual support was provided by Elisa Larrakoetxea, Programme Administrator in the OECD Eurasia Division. Valuable administrative support was provided by Ms Anna Chahtahtinsky, Programme Administrator in the OECD Eurasia Division. The report was reviewed by Ms Anita Richter, Acting Head of Division and Senior Policy Analyst, OECD South East Europe Division, and by Mr Umur Gokce and Ms Jovana Pavlovic Djukic, both Policy Analysts in the OECD South East Europe Division.
The OECD would like to thank the representatives of ministries and state agencies, the private sector, non-government organisations and other stakeholders for their readiness to exchange with the OECD team and for their valuable insights for the development of this note. The work was overseen on the Uzbek side by Mr Laziz Kudratov, then First Deputy Minister and now Minister of Investments, Industry and Trade.
The OECD would like to extend its gratitude to the following representatives of the Strategic Reforms Agency of Uzbekistan: Mr Rustamkhon Azizov, Deputy Director General; Mr Aleksey Sim, Former Deputy Director General; and Mr Ibrahim Karamatov, Leading Specialist; and to Mr Tengiz Asanov, Deputy Head of the Investment Climate Department, and Mr Nurilla Abdushukurov, former Senior Specialist at the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade. The OECD would also like to recognise the contributions made by: Mr Zuhriddin Shadmanov, Deputy Director in the Digital Economy Research Centre under the Ministry of Digital Technologiess; Mr Sherzod Atajanov, Head of Department of Interactive Services for Business Administration from the Agency for Working Mahallabay, and the Development of Entrepreneurship under the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction; Mr Bekzod Kasimov from the Tashkent IT Park; Mr Sarvar Jalolov, Director for Innovations at the Innovation, Technology and Strategy Centre; Mr Anvar Babakulov, Director at CCI Maroqand; and Ms Ikbal Yusupova, OECD Local Consultant.
We also thank the international experts who provided valuable contributions to the report: Ms Kersti Kuusksalu, Digitalisation Topic Manager from the Business and Innovation Agency Estonia; Mr Jae Won Kang, Senior Researcher at the Korea Small Business Institute (KOSI); Ms Aiga Irmeja, Executive Director at the Latvian IT Cluster; Ms Ira Racina, International Project Lead at the Latvian IT Cluster; and Ms Aruzhan Mede formerly from BTS Education Services, Kazakhstan.
A number of representatives of the development community provided further support to the work. We are grateful for the contributions made by Mr Sherzod Akbarov, Principal Manager at the EBRD Tashkent office; Ms Kate Gromova and Ms Reyn Anderson, Co-Founders, and Ms Sasha Sternik, Consultant, at Women in Digital Transformation, who led the DECA project in Uzbekistan; and Mr Bakhodir Bekov, Programme Manager, Mr Bunyod Avliokulov, and Mr Abror Khodjaev, both Project Managers at UNDP Uzbekistan. Ms Elena Son, Executive Director of the American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce, provided valuable support to arrange interviews with the private sector.
The European Union funded the project and provided important support. In particular, thanks are due to Ms Charlotte Adriaen, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Uzbekistan, and Mr François Bégeot, former Head of Co-operation at the EU Delegation to Uzbekistan.