The reforms of the President of Uzbekistan will make the country stronger and Central Asia more stable

"The deepening of interconnectedness with our neighbors is already underway and the continuation of this vector will make Uzbekistan stronger, and the Central Asian region more stable and stable," Sherzod Fayziev, head of the Department of the International Institute of Central Asia (MICA), concludes. 
The message of the President of Uzbekistan to the Parliament in December 2022 became one of the main political events of last year, which outlined not only the most important tasks and main directions of work of all branches of government for 2023, but also identified key priorities for further reform and modernization of Uzbekistan for the coming period.
The central place in the speech of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was occupied by the topic of building a New Uzbekistan, in which the highest value should be a person, his honor and dignity, rights and freedoms, where a free, comfortable and prosperous life of a multinational people is ensured.
The priorities outlined by the head of state are ambitious. Despite the great groundwork that has been made over the past six years, the tasks set by him are possible only with the active participation of society, our citizens and, of course, with the intense productive work of all branches and levels of government, the potential of which requires further development. 
As part of the practical implementation of the set goals, the need for the country to transition to a new model of the political system that would create conditions for achieving the set goals was noted. In this context, one of the priorities of the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev called the improvement of the Basic Law, which will have to meet the modern development of society.: "In order to bring the development of the country to a new stage, it is necessary to change the management system, legislation, and our society. If we don't do this, if we continue to ignore the obvious problems, we will lag behind life and progress. We need to develop a modern Constitution imbued with the goal of ensuring human interests, respect for his honor and dignity as the highest value, such a Basic law that will fully meet the tasks of building a New Uzbekistan, will serve future generations."
Undoubtedly, the implementation of the adopted New Development Strategy of Uzbekistan for 2022-2026 and the construction of a just state that truly respects the people require constitutional reforms aimed at improving the work of the authorities as such. The priority in this case was to consider the harmonization of the Constitution with the modern realities of society.
As part of a broad discussion and popular debate related to the improvement of the Basic Law, a total of more than 220 thousand proposals for its amendment were received. The amendments made to the draft document, in fact, have absorbed all the necessary and missing parts for a complete reformatting of the Constitution, which should meet new realities and be tailored to new tasks.
Along with a large number of amendments (more than 65 percent of the Constitution), which are designed to supplement and concretize the rights and freedoms of citizens, balance the system of power and powers, improve conditions for the full development of a citizen and society as a whole, chapter IV, which formulates the principles and approaches of Uzbekistan's foreign policy, was also subjected to qualitative changes.
The new version of the Constitution includes the thesis that "Uzbekistan pursues a peaceful foreign policy aimed at the full development of bilateral and multilateral relations with States and international organizations" (Article 18).
The integration of this important and, at the same time, principled message into the Basic Law is not accidental and is largely a reflection of the current state of the world, which is characterized by the rapid growth of distrust between the leading states, the militarization of international politics, an open demonstration of force in building relations.
Here it is appropriate to quote the words of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, which were uttered at the SCO summit in Samarkand last year. Then the head of state noted that humanity is in a "period of historical fracture, when one epoch ends and another begins – even more unpredictable and unknown."
In the current difficult conditions, the role of regional communities united by established economic and humanitarian ties and, at the same time, long-term plans and projects aimed at further strengthening interconnectedness is critically important.
In this context, the Central Asian region should be particularly noted, which in recent years, thanks to the efforts of all five countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – is rapidly changing, gaining stability, unity and international subjectivity.
Of course, the decisive factor that triggered the processes of increasing cooperation in Central Asia in recent years was the new foreign policy of Tashkent, which received its formalization after the election of Shavkat Mirziyoyev as President in 2016.
In his first address to the parliament, the head of Uzbekistan outlined a hierarchy of priorities, putting the strengthening of relations with the countries of Central Asia first. This approach was further developed in the adopted Action Strategy of Uzbekistan for 2017-2021.
This document stated Tashkent's intention to pursue an open and constructive policy towards its closest neighbors, to resolve regional issues and problems on the basis of equality, mutual consideration of interests and search for reasonable compromises, to create a belt of friendship and prosperity, security and stability around Uzbekistan as a country located in the heart of the region.
Changes in Tashkent's foreign policy have created conditions for the formation of a healthy political climate in the Central Asian region and have caused consistent and, at the same time, cardinal improvements in both interstate relations and multilateral formats of interaction.  
The implementation of the new policy, based on the principles of mutual trust and good-neighborliness, has contributed to progress on many long-standing issues. This made it possible to achieve the removal of most of the problematic issues that have been a conflict topic for many years and hindered the projects and initiatives necessary for the development of the countries of the region. 
Over the past six months, conditions have been provided for the gradual completion of the legal registration of the state borders of Uzbekistan with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, checkpoints for citizens at Uzbek-Tajik and Uzbek-Kyrgyz border posts have been resumed, visas with Tajikistan have been canceled, transport links - rail, air and land, which were interrupted in the mid-90s, have been launched. Corridors for the export of goods were opened.
Moreover, investment cooperation has intensified, the implementation of significant cooperation projects in trade, industry, energy, transport, agriculture and other sectors of the economy has begun. If we talk about trade, it has grown by more than 2.5 times. The number of joint ventures has increased by more than 5 times – from 312 to 1600.
All this has created conditions for the transformation of the region into a single trade, investment, transport and communication platform. Industrial cooperation projects are being implemented in various sectors of the economy, starting from the automotive industry and ending with agriculture. Contacts between the regions of the states are expanding, cultural and humanitarian ties are deepening.
Today, stable Central Asia is already becoming one of the important centers of investment activity and economic growth. According to a number of experts, the total GDP of the countries of the region has grown by 20 percent over the past five years and exceeded 340 billion US dollars.
Speaking in the context of Uzbekistan alone, the trade turnover with the countries of the region increased to $ 7.4 billion. The same dynamics of cooperation is observed in neighboring countries.
The result of the general changes in Central Asia was the consistent development by the states of agreed positions on intraregional issues and close coordination on international platforms - the UN, the CIS, the SCO, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and other platforms. 
Thanks to this transformation, in recent years, the countries of the region have also developed a common approach to building relations with leading states and centers of power within the framework of the Central Asia Plus dialogue format - the European Union, India, China, Russia, the United States, South Korea, Japan, and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf (GCC).
Of course, the role of Uzbekistan in these processes is of paramount importance and is not in doubt, which is confirmed by numerous assessments of foreign experts and specialists.
The consolidation of the thesis of a peaceful foreign policy in the Constitution of Uzbekistan should be considered as a fundamental change that demonstrates not only the great responsibility and maturity of the state, but also an understanding of the prospects for developing cooperation with its neighbors in the region, with whom the country is united by a common history, common values, culture and religion.
Indeed, Uzbekistan needs to continue systemic and fundamental changes both within the state and in Central Asia. This is a very difficult task, which is not limited to the adoption of amendments to the Constitution, but only begins with them. 
Well-formulated goals and their no less consistent implementation are becoming an important factor in the sustainable development of the entire region. The deepening of interconnectedness with our neighbors is already underway and the continuation of this vector will make Uzbekistan stronger and the Central Asian region more stable and stable. 
Sherzod Fayziev,
Head of the Department of the International Institute of Central Asia.