A Quarter-Century Pursuit of Independence: Politics of Trade, Energy, and Economic Development in Uzbekistan

Year 2017, Volume: 22 Issue: 1, 49 - 90, 01.04.2017

Halil Burak Sakal

Abstract

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan chose an original path of economic development policy. Known as the Uzbek model, these policies helped the Uzbek economy survive at least two economic crises over the last two decades. In terms of various macroeconomic indicators, the Uzbek economy outperformed similar countries. This paper divides the post-independence economic policies of the Uzbek leadership into three periods according to various definitive characteristics, and argues that the original path of the Uzbek model has been one of the key factors for the performance of the Uzbek economy. Over the last 25 years, the main motivation behind the occasional changes in the political and economic preferences of the Uzbek leadership has been the pursuit of independence.In its quarter century of economic policies, Uzbekistan’s economy has achieved considerable success and has had various opportunities. It is a matter of policy choices to translate this promising outlook into solid and sustainable economic growth

Keywords

Uzbekistan, Economy, Political Economy, Central Asia, Uzbek Model.

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