MAY 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a visit to Tashkent, US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns tried to woo Uzbekistan’s leaders by pointing to Ukraine and warning of the dangers that Russia still represents. Mr Burns said that the US’ commitment to Uzbekistan and the Central Asia region was enduring.
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(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)
MAY 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In an interview with Tajik media outlet Asia Plus, Jorg Frieden, executive director at the World Bank in charge of its projects in Central Asia, underscored the eggshells the Bank and other international organisations must tread over when dealing with large scale energy projects in the region.
The Bank’s endorsement of hydroelectric projects, whether from a technical or financial point of view, is particularly important for Tajikistan, a country full of hydro potential, but with a track record of failing to attract foreign investment.
Dushanbe is also locked in a perennial conflict over its hydropower ambitions with downstream Uzbekistan. Uzbek President Islam Karimov has said that upstream dams in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan could trigger water wars if constructed.
The World Bank has already pledged $526m towards CASA-1000, a project that aims to deliver power from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to electricity-deficient Afghanistan and Pakistan further south.
Mr Frieden reiterated the bank’s support for CASA-1000 while acknowledging that Uzbekistan strongly opposed it.
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(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)
MAY 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan Airways is negotiating joining the Sky Team alliance whose members include Air France, Alitalia, three Chinese airlines and others, media reported. The Uzbek national airline has been pushing hard to boost its profile and routes over the past few months.
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(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)
MAY 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In Yemen media reported that government soldiers had killed 13 members of an al-Qaeda militant group, including their Uzbek leader. This is significant for Uzbekistan which has been battling militant Islamists for years. There have been a number of credible reports of Uzbeks fighting in Yemen and Afghanistan..
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(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)
APRIL 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Construction work at the turquoise domed Registan in Samarkand, listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site, has damaged a couple of the towers, media reported. Two of the madrassa’s 18th century towers have developed a lean of 8cm since work began on building an amphitheatre in the complex.
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(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)
MAY 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Diplomatically, at least, Uzbekistan appears in high demand.
At the end of a trade mission to Bangladesh, Uzbekistan signed deals worth $100m, cementing the growing cotton-fuelled Tashkent-Dhaka axis (April 30). Since then, too, nations from across the world have been lining up to increase ties with Uzbekistan.
Japan’s deputy PM Taro Aso visited Tashkent and held talks with president Islam Karimov on boosting trade relations (May 6) and Malaysia’s deputy PM also visited on a similar mission, carrying a similar message (May 4).
From the EU, Latvian officials started to arrive in Tashkent for the start of the next round of bi-lateral talks (May 5) and from South America Chile’s ambassador to Uzbekistan, officially seated in Moscow, said the country wanted to open up a permanent trade office in Tashkent (May 1).
To round off a busy week, the US’ second most senior diplomat, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns included Uzbekistan on a whirlwind tour of Central Asia (May 5).
Strategically located next to Afghanistan and with plenty of cotton, energy and gold resources, Uzbekistan has become a state that others now want to do business with.
It wasn’t long ago that Uzbekistan, with its distinctly dubious human rights record and unilateral foreign policies, was considered a pariah state.
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(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)
APRIL 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The IMF has upgraded Uzbekistan’s economic growth rate to 7% in 2014 from 6.5% earlier forecast, media reported. It also said that inflation would creep up to about 11% from an earlier estimate of 10.4%. Inflation has boomed in Uzbekistan and poses a real risk to the economy..
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(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)
APRIL 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking for more allies in Asia, Uzbekistan plans to strengthen diplomatic ties and transport links with Bangladesh.
This Uzbek-Bangladeshi alliance, though, is based fully on business. More precisely, it is based on cotton.
An Uzbek government delegation begins a three-day visit to Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, on April 30. Media reported that it will open an embassy in the country, its first new embassy for several years, and re-start direct flights. Uzbekistan Airways had flown from Tashkent to Dhaka between 1996 and 2005 but dropped the route because it was a commercial flop. It is now expanding and it suits the diplomatic discourse to re-start the route.
The root cause of all this chumminess between Uzbekistan and Bangladesh is cotton. There are no historical, cultural or religious links. This is 21st century commercial diplomacy.
Cotton is one of Uzbekistan’s key exports but over the last few years it has found it increasingly hard to sell to the West. Western companies have grown more and more sensitive about Uzbekistan’s use of child labour to pick the cotton. Many Western companies imposed a boycott on Uzbek cotton, forcing Uzbekistan to look for new clients. It found these in China and Bangladesh.
Since 2012, cotton exports to both China and Bangladesh have increased enormously. Uzbekistan now supplies Bangladesh, one of the world’s biggest garment manufacturing countries, with 40% of its total cotton.
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)
APRIL 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan have ordered TV and radio stations to rig explosives to their buildings and equipment and to detonate them if they fall into enemy hands, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported. RFE/RL said the order may have been made to protect against Ukraine-style uprising.
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)
APRIL 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan signed agreements with their Iranian counterparts that will extend rail cooperation between the countries, media reported. Central Asian countries have been signing deals with Iran to extend a trade route to the Persian Gulf.
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)
