Deputy Director of ISRS Bobur Usmanov on tangible prospects for strengthening good neighborliness and developing regional partnership within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States

The organization of the Turkic States is a new phenomenon of global changes at the regional level, which arose under the influence of modern geo–economic realities in Eurasia.
According to experts, the participating countries of the Organization have significant potential: the human resource is about 170 million people; they occupy the 13th place in the world in terms of GDP, which amounted to 1.4 trillion US dollars in 2021. The trade turnover between the members of the association is $ 21 billion. The annual growth rate of industry in the organization's states averages 8-12%, and the share of industry in the GDP structure is about 24%.
Uzbekistan has been participating in the work of the OTG as a full member since 2019. Joining the organization was the result of the intensification of Tashkent's multilateral diplomacy conducted over the past years.
Our country is the second Turkic-speaking state after Turkey in terms of population, having enormous economic potential with a dynamically growing economy.
The OTG states account for 22.4% of the total trade turnover of Uzbekistan. Over the past 5 years, mutual trade with the states of this organization has grown 2.4 times, amounting to $9.4 billion by the end of 2021.
The increased interest of Uzbekistan's participation in the activities of the OTG is primarily due to the following points.
Firstly, joining the association clearly fits into the modern foreign policy strategy of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, within which a new model of relations with external partners and international structures is being created. Uzbekistan is a key player in the Turkic world due to objective factors and historical, cultural, civilizational, geographical, geo-economic parameters.
Secondly, the organization is an effective platform for solving topical issues of developing cooperation in trade, economy, transport, energy, tourism and cultural and humanitarian spheres, coordinating efforts to ensure peace and security in the region, consolidating efforts to counter the global challenges of our time.
Thirdly, participation in the work of the OTG as a permanent member gives Tashkent additional political and diplomatic resources for the broad promotion of its initiatives on the world stage, and also strengthens the international authority and status of the country as one of the centers of the Turkic-Islamic civilization.
Uzbekistan's entry into the association is already demonstrating its high efficiency. In just three years, the leader of our country Shavkat Mirziyoyev has put forward more than three dozen initiatives and proposals for the further development and strengthening of cooperation with the member states of the organization.
Among them, it is important to note the creation of a Center for research on trade cooperation of the Turkic states to develop proposals to increase the volume of mutual trade turnover, the adoption within the framework of the OTG of the Program of interconnectedness of the participating countries in the transport sector, the formation of a permanent Platform of experts and IT specialists.
It is obvious that the vision of Uzbekistan in cooperation with the association is the long-term and joint development of the economies of the member states of the organization in order to ensure prosperity and sustainable development of the entire Turkic space.
Thanks to the positive trends taking place, today we are witnessing the successful activity of the organization, which is due to the combination of the common interests of its participants in the cultural and humanitarian sphere with the dynamic development of trade and economic ties, as well as the rapid adaptation of the OTG to the rapidly changing situation in the world.
The Samarkand Declaration will be adopted at the end of the summit. It will reflect the assessment of the activities of the OTG, the coordinated approach of the member States regarding the prospects for its development and the position of the members of the association regarding the current international and regional situation. The document will also outline the main decisions of the summit and the initiatives proposed by Uzbekistan and other member countries of the organization.
The chairmanship of the organization for the period 2022-2023 will be transferred from Turkey to Uzbekistan. In this regard, active preparation for work in this status has already begun in the country. Tashkent intends to actively promote the entire formed development agenda of the OTG and implement the agreements reached.
A landmark event at the meeting of the leaders of the organization's countries will also be the adoption of the OTG Strategy for 2022-2026, aimed at intensifying trade and economic ties, forming an interregional extensive transport and communication system, strengthening cooperation in the energy sector, consolidating efforts in the field of digitalization and high technologies, improving coordination of measures in the field of food security, expanding cooperation in the field of education and science.
Uzbekistan will consistently work to maximize the use of the organization's reserves and fully contribute to increasing the potential and capabilities of the integration association of the countries of the Turkic world.
It is safe to say that the Samarkand Summit will give a new impetus to the development of the organization of Turkic States and lay a solid foundation for cooperation between the member states
for the foreseeable future. Further cooperation within the framework of the OTG will be of great importance in terms of unlocking the enormous potential of good-neighborliness, unity and cooperation between States and their peoples, laying a successful model of interstate interaction and solidarity.

Bobur Usmanov,
Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan