Consolidation and unity. On the path of continuing reforms - towards a common great goal

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The people of Uzbekistan, having reaffirmed their commitment to the development and continuation of reforms in the country, are confidently looking to the future. Together with the elected leader, he follows the path of building a strong and prosperous state, where human interests and dignity are the highest values.

Changes we want to see

In all epochs, the realities and challenges facing states have brought to the historical arena individuals who are capable, by taking on the burden of responsibility, to change the fate of millions. The Indian political and public figure, one of the leaders and ideologists of the movement for India's independence from Great Britain, the author of the philosophy of non-violence, Mahatma Gandhi, being one of such people, spoke about the importance of the first steps towards a new life. “We ourselves must become the changes that we want to see in the world,” he argued.

In our country, the author and initiator of the recent changes is President Shavkat Mirziyoyev . The inaugural speech in the status of the newly elected head of state expresses commitment to creating a better future for the people of the country. It is permeated with a sincere desire to strengthen the independence of the Motherland, to ensure a peaceful and prosperous life for all citizens.

The President, expressing sincere gratitude to the compatriots who showed high confidence in the election to the post of head of state, once again stressed that the citizens of Uzbekistan have a common goal. We are all united by the interests of the Motherland and the people. It is stated that all forces will be directed to work in the name of achieving a common great goal, which is the cherished dream of our people - the construction of a New Uzbekistan.

It should be noted that the fact of the consolidation of society in our country, of truly popular support for reforms, is a phenomenon that is increasingly being paid attention abroad. Representatives of different countries and international organizations that observed the presidential elections repeatedly ­emphasized this.

“I happened to take part as an international observer in the elections of the President of Uzbekistan held on July 9,” said Siegfried Schoppe , professor of economics at the University of Hamburg (Germany) . — I visited many polling stations, held meetings in various departments, local authorities, universities, talked with ordinary Uzbeks. Everywhere there was a positive attitude and faith in a better future. My interlocutors pinned their hopes on the reform course of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev , expressed support for his election program.

And this is not surprising, the observer believes, because all those numerous positive changes in Uzbekistan ­that have been observed in the republic in recent years are associated with the name of Shavkat Mirziyoyev , who became the personification of the country's new course aimed at improving the welfare of the population, strengthening the rights and freedoms of citizens, accelerated economic development, openness to the outside world and constructive international cooperation. Therefore, the convincing victory of the incumbent President in the electoral race did not come as a big surprise to anyone, he really enjoys great support from the population of Uzbekistan.

Many people abroad were also struck by the extent to which our fellow citizens are interested in exercising the right of choice enshrined in the Constitution. “It would be nice if we in Thailand could use the good example of Uzbekistan to attract more voters and reach more people in our upcoming elections in the future,” wrote the 100,000-circulation Thai newspaper Matichon . “This is what the consolidation and unity of the people around their leader should look like,” said Arkady ­Dubnov , a well-known expert on Central Asia , commenting on a video with thousands of people waiting in line to vote in the presidential elections in Uzbekistan at the embassy of our country in Moscow.

Impressive progress

Of course, achieving any tangible result requires significant effort. The President in his speech outlined the coming period as a time of turning points and great transformations in various spheres of life in Uzbekistan. It is clear that past results and approaches remain in the past, and the present requires new ideas and initiatives, new results. That is why it is so necessary to clearly follow the course of the country's development that meets the interests of the people.

Step by step, we have entered the era of exalting the honor and dignity of man. Its initial frontier can be called the period six years ago, when a completely new system of dialogue with the people was created through the organization of the Virtual and People's Reception Offices. The same logic of following the interests of all segments of the population was traced in the initiative to create a completely new effective system of “iron”, “women's” and “youth” notebooks for targeted work with low-income families, women and youth, which has no analogues in the world. She provided the necessary financial support to every family in need. The annual funds allocated from the State budget for these purposes exceeded 18 trillion soums .

The previously hushed issue of poverty began to be openly discussed at the highest level. As a result, specific measures have been initiated to reduce it. As a result, only in 2022, one million Uzbeks were able to get out of poverty. The problem of providing people with housing is being rapidly solved, which is especially important, since, according to some forecasts, in five years the population of Uzbekistan will exceed 40 million in number. Over the past six and a half years, about 300 thousand houses have been built, which is ten times more than in previous years. In the next seven years, an additional million houses are expected to be built in all regions, for which it is planned to allocate $15 billion.

In general, as the President emphasized in his speech, work aimed at reducing poverty, supporting low-income segments of the population, persons with disabilities, and lonely elderly people will be brought to a new level.

According to the journalist of the popular French publication Musulmans en France » Jean-Michel Brun , President Shavkat Mirziyoyev managed to provide a real leap forward for his country in seven years. In terms of economic growth, Uzbekistan has the best performance in the region. In his opinion, the worst legacy was the poverty rate, which reached 17 percent in 2016. Thanks to the policy of subsidies, reforms in education and employment, this indicator has already declined, writes a French ­journalist.

At the same time, as the author emphasizes, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has so far kept his promises to the fullest, and the impressive progress made explains his decent electoral result of over 87 percent of the vote, based, as every observer could see, on genuine popular support. “Naturally, this figure is enough to have an idea that the President was elected by the people who approve of his program. A voting participation rate of over 79 percent is also enough to make us envious, because we find it hard to admit that others are better than us in this area,” sums up J.-M. Brun .

Peacefulness in the era of confrontations

Continuing the conversation about the successes of recent years, it is impossible not to mention the changes that have taken place in the foreign policy of Uzbekistan, which have led to the establishment of close ties and cooperation with the countries of the world, which is especially significant, given the turbulence of the situation on the planet. In the words of the head of state, we see how quickly the world is changing. A whole historical period is coming to an end on a global scale. A very difficult new period begins with unpredictable processes. The ongoing armed conflicts in different regions seriously undermine global peace and tranquility. Such confrontations and fierce competition disrupt trade and investment flows, the circulation of goods and services, and create new problems of food and energy security.

Folk wisdom teaches: "Calmly with a neighbor - calmly at your home." As if following her, under the guidance of Shavkat Mirziyoyev Uzbekistan has revised its foreign policy towards establishing unprecedented close ties and cooperation with neighboring countries, while initiating similar peace-loving processes throughout the region. These changes had a positive impact on the relations between the fraternal peoples, leading to the fact that there was no trace of long-standing grievances, and the ice that had fettered friendship for decades finally melted.

The most important result was the facilitation of the process of entry and exit of citizens, contributing to the development of contacts and exchanges between countries. Following the freedom of movement, as it should be, regional trade “pulled up”. The volume of Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover with the countries of Central Asia has increased significantly, more than doubling and reaching $7.5 billion by the end of 2022.

During pre-election meetings Shavkat Mirziyoyev stated that the further implementation of an open, pragmatic and active foreign policy would continue, as well as the promotion of Uzbekistan's initiatives in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres in the international arena. The qualitative level of practical cooperation in Central Asia will increase both in general and, in particular, in matters of rational water use and the development of transport corridors.

“A stable Central Asia is becoming one of the important centers ­of investment activity and economic growth,” notes the Japanese edition “ The Japan Times ". “According to the estimates of a number of experts, the total GDP of the countries of the region has increased by 20 percent over the past five years and exceeded $370 billion.”

At the same time, ­the newspaper from the Land of the Rising Sun calls the new foreign policy of Tashkent, which received its formalization after the election of President Shavkat in 2016, the decisive factor that served as a trigger for the processes of building up cooperation in Central Asia in recent years. Mirziyoyev . It created the conditions for the formation of a healthy political climate in the Central Asian region and caused consistent and at the same time dramatic improvements in both interstate relations and multilateral interaction formats, concludes “ The Japan Times ".

The fact that Uzbekistan seeks to strengthen its role in international relations, continuing an open and mutually beneficial foreign policy based on its national interests, which is one of the goals of the New Uzbekistan Development Strategy, is also noted ­in Saudi Arabia. One of the largest online publications in the kingdom " Swift News ”published a series of articles on the changes taking place in Uzbekistan, where, in particular, it is said that as a result of the republic’s peaceful foreign policy, the world recognizes the important results of Uzbekistan’s ongoing dialogue with partner countries and international organizations on regional and global issues. It was emphasized that in recent years Uzbekistan ­has been achieving significant results on the external track in terms of developing friendly and mutually beneficial relations with foreign countries, especially neighboring countries. The republic was also elected to the UN Human Rights Council for the first time in history.

“Thanks to an open foreign policy and determined efforts on the world stage, interest and trust in Uzbekistan abroad is growing, which strengthens the position of official Tashkent, including in international rankings,” the media concludes.

A multinational people is an invaluable wealth

Following the strategy outlined by the country's leader, Uzbekistan ­is implementing large-scale transformations in the country's economy, simultaneously transferring it to a "green" track and increasing investment. The pace has been taken swiftly: a high bar is set for the future - to bring the gross domestic product to 160 billion dollars by 2030. Along with this, our state will be included in the category of “countries with an upper middle income”.

It is important to note that the country's economy is now developing due to the rational use of available resources, the creation of innovative products, the development and introduction of advanced technologies into production. As a result of the improvement of the business environment, the number of entrepreneurs has doubled, they have become a force that ensures the development of our society, an engine of reforms, which is fully in line with the development trends of the global economy. After all, the private sector plays a very important role in such areas as stimulating innovation, increasing the volume of gross domestic product and export potential, and most importantly, it contributes to employment. Already, almost 90 percent of all jobs in Uzbekistan are in the private sector.

Steps are currently being taken to increase the private sector's share of gross domestic product to 80 percent and its share of exports to 60 percent. Important reforms by the government of Uzbekistan aimed at increasing the economic and social potential of the country, in particular, increasing private sector investment, are noted in the studies of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.

The result of a set of measures implemented in the economic bloc in recent years has been a threefold increase in the volume of foreign investment in Uzbekistan. By the end of 2022 alone, this figure exceeded ten billion dollars. By 2030, the target is to bring investments up to $250 billion, including $110 billion in ­foreign investment and $40 billion in public-private partnerships.

As expert Sun Zhuangzhi noted in an article on the pages of China's largest English-language newspaper Global Times , President Shavkat Mirziyoyev opened the era of New Uzbekistan and secured the status of the leader of the nation, who leads the country to further development and modernization. And thanks to the ongoing reforms, Uzbekistan, which has witnessed historical changes, has become a dynamically developing state, demonstrating sustainable development rates, the ability to defend its independence and the peaceful life of the people, fully relying on its own strength and potential.

Despite the crisis of the world economy and the instability of the external environment, Uzbekistan managed to maintain high rates of economic growth. By the end of 2023, the IMF expects Uzbekistan's GDP to grow by six percent, which indicates the country's dynamic development, the newspaper writes.

Undoubtedly, in order to achieve the stated goals, the country has not only natural, but also labor resources, intellectual and spiritual potential. As the President noted in his speech, Uzbekistan has a lot of underground and surface wealth. But our greatest strength, truly invaluable wealth, is our multinational people living as a united friendly family. And for all residents of the country, as stated, regardless of nationality, language and religion, favorable conditions for life and self-realization will be created.

Nobel Prize winner Nelson Mandela once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon with which you can change the world.” This saying of the politician and freedom fighter perfectly illustrates President Shavkat's aspiration Mirziyoyev to ensure high rates of development of education, human development, capable of playing a key role in creating a progressive and prosperous society.

More than six years ago, it was recognized that education and health care needed urgent reforms. In a short period of time, fundamental changes have been made in the educational sphere, a new system has been created, focused on continuous education at all its stages.

We can cite several indicators that will allow us to imagine the scope of what has been done in the field: the number of kindergartens has increased by 5.5 times, exceeding the mark of 29,000. If earlier only every fourth child could attend a pre-school institution, now only one out of four does not yet have this opportunity. The same can be said about the middle link, where an additional 700,000 places for schoolchildren have appeared. The number of universities in the country increased by 2.5 times, reaching 210, which made it possible to create a healthy competitive environment.

Large - scale education reforms continue to bring positive results . However, no one is going to stop there. By 2030, it is planned to fully meet the needs for preschool education and ensure 100% enrollment of children, as well as improve the material and technical base of kindergartens. In addition, it is planned
to create 2.5 million student places in schools , introduce advanced foreign experience into the system of higher education and science.

That is why the President's address to the youth of the country is natural, in which the unique opportunities created for them are emphasized. In proportion to them, there is a call to great deeds for the good of the Motherland and the people, to make a contribution to the history of the country at the most important stage of its development.

 

Utkir Rahmat .