Page 4 - FSUOGM Week 40 2019

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM
Uzbekistan’s five-year goal to
overhaul its energy industry
Uzbekistan’s new leadership has injected new life into the country’s energy over the past three years, reports Daniel Rad in Tashkent
UZBEKISTAN
UZBEKISTAN under its new president Shavkat Mirziyoyev is a country gearing up for a bright future – or so they say. According to the seem- ingly youthful government, relaxation of its energy industry’s ownership has already created a bonanza of redevelopment projects set to be completed in the next five years. These projects, including energy generation and a general lib- eralisation of state ownership across the board, have injected a new lease of life into this Central Asian crossroads.
“We’ve had thirty years of nothing, and now with our new president we have to pull our socks up and invest our time and energy into our coun- try,” said one local energy executive during a tour around Uzbekistan by the representatives of the newly established Energy Ministry. The young father of two taking a group of journalists around the far west of the country shines a light on a new generation of Uzbeks who have grown up only knowing the rule of the former president, Islam Karimov.
There’s a buzz around Tashkent, with sev- eral events occurring over the next few months highlighting investment in the country. The
government has thrown itself into shining some light on this, the most populous country in Cen- tral Asia and arguably the region’s most attractive investment destination. Similar campaigns have been run to promote the country’s tourism and cultural heritage in recent months.
The money being pumped into the country and into development of the cities and towns far away from the capital is obvious, includ- ing Nukus in the salted deserts in the far west of the country’s Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic.
The Mirziyoyev government sees the relaxa- tion of the rules for foreign investment as well as removal of visa requirements as one of key driv- ers to boost the image of the CIS country.
I am in Uzbekistan as part of the latest press trip organised by the Uzbek Ministry of Energy and Eriell Group. This latest push by the Mir- ziyoyev administration aims to secure foreign direct investment (FDI) in its ageing infrastruc- ture, the majority of which dates back to the 1960s and appears to have received little, if any, investment in the decades prior to 2016, when the new president took over.
P4
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 40 09•October•2019