In recent years, Uzbekistan has carried out a wide range of policy reforms to enhance living standards by opening up to foreign trade and investment, raising productivity, increasing the resilience of the economy to shocks, and addressing poverty and climate change. This reform process has attracted widespread attention from Uzbekistan’s neighbours, international partners and investors.
The successful liberalisation of foreign exchange, price liberalisation and external opening have all helped reduce the scope of state intervention in economic processes. Far more difficult are reforms to change institutions and reshape, rather than reduce, the state’s role in economic and social life. Yet policies that require well-developed analytical, regulatory and administrative capacities and that entail profound transformations increasingly dominate Uzbekistan’s reform agenda, with the objective of “building a just and modern state that serves the people,” as stated in the authorities’ “Uzbekistan 2030” Strategy.
Their success will depend on the quality of public governance. This OECD Public Governance Review of Uzbekistan, made possible by the generous financial support of Germany, thus comes at a critical juncture. Efficient, effective, accountable and transparent public governance can bring greater legitimacy and commitment to the government’s broader economic and political reform agendas, as well as improve the quality of policy and public service design and implementation. Governance reforms thus create the foundations for reforms in most economic and social policy domains.
The review begins and ends, as one might expect, with the public administration itself: with the mandates, competences and capabilities of core state institutions and their capacity to deliver on the Uzbekistan 2030 agenda, and with the preparation, selection, motivation and management of a more efficient, trustworthy and responsive civil service. However, it also addresses several more specific challenges: promoting and mainstreaming gender equality in policymaking; strengthening the integrity of the public administration; and making regulatory policymaking more transparent, inclusive and evidence-based.
Finally, it is critical to note one cross-cutting theme that emerges from the Review: reform of the state is not a matter only for the state. It must be pursued in partnership with citizens, firms and other actors. Thus, the review emphasises throughout the need for a human-centered public administration and inclusive policymaking, including through increased citizen engagement, transparency and accountability. Building a more inclusive and prosperous future for Uzbekistan is not just a whole-of-government task; it is a whole-of-society task. And the OECD and Germany stand ready to continue in this work with Uzbekistan.
Elsa Pilichowski,
Director, OECD Public Governance Directorate
Andreas Schaal,
OECD Director of Global Relations & Sherpa to the G7, G20 and APEC
Manfred Huterer,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Uzbekistan