A special edition of Uzbekistan 24 TV channel’s Irreversible Reforms (“Ortga qaytmas islohotlar”) was dedicated to the development of transport and transit potential of the country. The programme was attended by industry specialists, experts and analysts who expressed their views on Uzbekistan’s place in the international transport system, infrastructure projects being implemented and work being done to strengthen regional transport links.

 

Nargiza Umarova, Senior Research Fellow at IAIS, also participated as a guest in the programme. In her speech, she touched upon Uzbekistan’s topical projects in the field of logistics, in particular, the prospects of China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and Trans-Afghanistan railway projects.

 

Nargiza Umarova noted that Uzbekistan, given its favourable geostrategic position, pays special attention to the development of transport system. This will allow the country to move from the status of a peripheral territory in the regional transport system to the level of a central logistics and transit hub. The expert also emphasised the significant contribution of such large infrastructure projects to the economic development not only of Uzbekistan, but also of the entire Central Asian region, diversification of foreign trade relations and expansion of international transport corridors.

 

Thus, the transport infrastructure projects implemented by Uzbekistan serve not only to improve the domestic logistics system, but also to further strengthen the country’s role in international economic co-operation.

 

* The Institute for Advanced International Studies (IAIS) does not take institutional positions on any issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IAIS.