OECD Public Governance Reviews: Uzbekistan

Executive summary

Uzbekistan has developed an ambitious reform agenda to support its socio-economic development, which has contributed to reducing poverty, attracting investment and liberalising the economy. As such, Uzbekistan’s economic growth has consistently outpaced the Central Asian average since 2017. Extreme poverty in Uzbekistan has declined significantly, decreasing from 8% in 2016 to less than 1% in 2023. However, challenges relating to growing socio-economic inequality, regional disparities, transparency and public service delivery persist. While the public administration in Uzbekistan remains centralised and hierarchical, policymakers have identified reforms to its concentrated public governance system as an important step in addressing these challenges and achieving the long-term objectives of the country.

Modernising the public administration

Uzbekistan has made significant strides in modernising and promoting the effectiveness of its public administration since 2017. The country has demonstrated notable improvements in regulatory quality, the rule of law, responsiveness and inclusiveness of its public administration, contributing to increased government efficiency. For example, significant progress was made in increasing women’s representation in parliament, with the number of female parliamentarians rising from 16% in 2019 to 33.3% in 2022. Public administration reform (PAR) remains a key priority for Uzbekistan as it seeks to create a more efficient, effective, accountable, and citizen-centred public sector that supports the country’s socio-economic development goals. Uzbekistan aims to modernise and reorganise its public administration, strengthen local governance, promote digitalisation and reinforce accountability and effective policy implementation. While recent PAR reforms outlined in strategic documents, driven by the Ministry of Justice, have introduced positive change, they have also led to some ambiguity regarding institutional mandates and competencies for PAR. Uzbekistan could consider:

• Clarifying mandates and competencies for public administration reform.

• Enhancing the effectiveness, capabilities and flexibility of the public administration, including to engage citizens in policymaking.

Strategic planning

The Government of Uzbekistan recognises the pivotal role of strategic planning in achieving its ambitious socio-economic transformation and in shaping the country’s future. The Presidential Decree and the Strategic Planning Act currently being drafted should help formalise and strengthen Uzbekistan’s current planning framework. Other steps to consider include:

• Providing a clear, stable and strong mandate with the relevant capabilities for the central strategic planning entity, the Agency for Strategic Reforms (ASR). This would allow the ASR to communicate the central role of Strategy 2030 and avoid strategic ambiguity across ministries.

• Enhancing the ASR’s review function to ensure all strategies meet quality standards and align with the 2030 Strategy, and to more actively drive performance management on strategic priorities.

• Improving co-ordination within the centre of government and between national and local levels to ensure cohesive implementation of priorities.

• Establishing a high-level committee under the President, with the ASR as its technical secretariat, to further support the implementation of the 2030 Strategy.

Promoting gender equality

The adoption of the Strategy for Achieving Gender Equality in the Republic of Uzbekistan until 2030 (‘’2030 Strategy’’) in 2021 is an important achievement in the country’s journey to gender equality. However, adopting a strategic approach to planning will be key to ensure sound implementation of the 2030 Strategy. This could entail:

• Developing evidence-based short-, medium- and long-term objectives and identifying key areas for action based on consultations with relevant stakeholders. Systematic performance assessment against targets will also be important for monitoring progress.

• Developing a more robust institutional set-up to implement and monitor the 2030 Strategy, including greater involvement of the Gender Advisory Councils and co-ordination from the centre of government.

• Systematically integrating core gender mainstreaming practices, including gender budgeting, gender impact assessment and gender data collection.

Anti-corruption reforms

Backed by political commitment at the highest level, Uzbekistan is undertaking ambitious anti-corruption reforms to overhaul many areas of public governance, including the recent enactment of dedicated conflict-of-interest legislation. However, these reforms are still at an early stage and more should be done to align procedures and guidelines with the upcoming legislative framework. For example, Uzbekistan could consider:

• Bolstering conflict-of-interest and asset declaration systems by improving implementation and co-ordination among key stakeholders.

• Strengthening the management of conflict of interest, as well as training and guidance for both public officials and managers.

• Continuing to close loopholes with respect to the framework for pre- and post-employment regulations and develop a single common system of disclosure of assets and interests by public servants.

• Boosting the institutional development of and resources for the bodies responsible for developing and implementing anti-corruption strategies and prevention measures.

Evidence-informed policy and regulatory quality

Uzbekistan has made significant progress in developing an evidence-informed law-making framework. Reforms over the past four years, particularly for law-making, have heightened the relevance of employing good regulatory practices (GRPs). The challenge for the administration now, however, is to ensure that these policies are effectively translated into everyday practices. Some areas of consideration for reinforcing evidence-informed policymaking in the country could be the following:

• Continue advancing the development of sound and effective regulatory practices while reinforcing communication on the importance of better regulation across the Uzbek administration.

• Enhancing and reinforcing the analytical skills of the public service to ensure the effective application of GRPs.

• Improving the use of data for policymaking in Uzbekistan, and maintain that data is easy to access for all civil servants.

• Maintaining a whole-of-government, yet proportional, approach to rulemaking and reinforce the methodologies that underpin regulatory management tools.

• Ensuring as far as possible an inclusive approach to policymaking, maintaining that a diversity of stakeholders are consulted, including vulnerable populations, those who are underrepresented as well as those who may not typically engage in government procedures.

Civil service reform

Uzbekistan's civil service reforms aim to create a modern, efficient, merit-based and trustworthy public sector. To achieve this goal, it is crucial to prioritise projects with clear implementation roadmaps. Other steps could include:

• Strengthening the Public Council, the entity under the Agency for the Development of Public Service (ARGOS) for discussing the development of the civil service in Uzbekistan, through technical working groups to enhance co-ordination and focus.

• Bolstering meritocracy by effective implementing the online recruitment platform by ARGOS, along with a competency framework in recruitment, training and performance management.

• Targeting reforms for the senior civil service, as they are instrumental in driving organisational performance and shaping public service culture. Limiting senior appointments to the National Personnel Reserve is a positive step towards enhancing meritocracy and reducing political influence. In addition, refining selection criteria, increasing transparency, investing in continuous professional development, and regularly evaluating the Reserve’s effectiveness are critical for success.