Uzbekistan is a country learning how to operate in a connected world. After 60 years as part of the USSR and, following independence in 1991, a further 25 years under the isolationist policies of president Islam Karimov, the country is looking outward for the first time in almost a century.
Under president Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan has begun a series of reforms in banking, business and civil liberties. Notably, these include a move away from the state ownership of industry. This will involve the government halving its level of company ownership. Sunatulla Bekenov, director of Uzbekistan’s State Asset Management Agency, explains the country has embarked on a series of irrevocable reforms. “Private ownership of state-owned companies will be increased to 80% of shares, and instruments will be developed to get capital into these companies,” he says.
