The Architecture of National Development

Uzbek model proves its efficiency

On September 1, Uzbekistan celebrates one of its most exciting and long-awaited holidays, the Independence Day. Exactly twenty-one years ago, the country embarked on the path of independent, gradual development, having opted for an ultimate goal of turning into an advanced democratic nation with a robust civil society.

A holiday through a story of man’s life

These days, the whole country is celebrating the central holiday, which traditionally takes place in Tashkent, at the Alisher Navoi National Park.

The phrase \"Happy Independence Day!\" is heard everywhere across Uzbekistan with the first salute volley.

As President Islam Karimov put it in his keynote speech during the official event occasioned to the twenty-first anniversary of independence, “I am convinced that with the passage of ages and millennia, this grand event – the Independence Day, the day that restored our sense of national self-consciousness, honor and pride, the right to dispose of the destiny of our own country, our sacred religion, values, customs and traditions – will stay eternal in history and get inscribed with gold letters in the chronicles of our Motherland. Obviously, twenty one years is a rather short period of time when measured in terms of overall human history and the process of formation of states, their emergence on the map of the world. Nonetheless, Uzbekistan has for this brief span of time overcome a path equaling that of centuries, without any doubt.”

All these years lived by the country were associated by many Uzbeks with maturation of a child. The citizens of the republic have together celebrated, first, the republic’s 5-th and then the 10-th anniversary of Independence. People were especially proud to celebrate Uzbekistan’s coming of age. There will be grandiose celebrations on the occasion of the 21-th anniversary of sovereignty. Why, in fact, a child? The answer is simple: the independence gave each of us a sense of belonging to a common work - the construction of a new independent state, which began its path quite from a scratch.

Now the older generation remembers from where the path of the young state had started. Looking back, they proudly tell to the next generation about the achievements of the country. Those people that celebrate their 21-th birthday, today, confidently step forward into adulthood, taking over the baton of creativity; they are ready to work for the welfare of their Motherland. One fact is undoubtedly surprising; more and more 21 years old young people, thanks to the opportunities opened over the years, along with their studies successfully run their own business, perhaps a little one, but after all their own. They will certainly be successful and will have great future, just as their country will have. The main thing, here, is to believe in it.

As usually, in order to organize the festive events on high level, there has been developed a special state program for the celebration. It includes the events held over the last month across the country; charity performances, thematic meetings, concerts, contests and competitions. On the eve of the holiday, President of Uzbekistan has awarded various specialists who distinguished themselves at work. There is another tradition of the holiday. New modern buildings, public facilities, and homes are being commissioning on the eve of the holiday. The new buildings emerge in different places all over the country.

It is symbolical, that the 21-th anniversary of Independence will enter into the annals of the country under the banner - the Year of Family. One has to admit that it is the same age when many Uzbeks take one of the most important decisions in their lives – to get marriage. This year, due to a specially approved state program, and as part of Independence Day celebrations there will be many surprises for hundreds of families, including house-warming. The young people who will marry on September 1, 2012 will not be unnoticed.

Backbone of statehood

The architecture of the national development strategy was established by five principles determined by the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov as the \"Uzbek model\". It allowed the country to achieve meaningful results in short time. The five principles include: economy is free from any ideological bias and holds higher-priority over politics; the state is the main reformer; the principle of the rule of law; strong social policy;

gradual mode in operating and implementing the reforms. Making a start from these principles, Uzbekistan began to construct the basis for its state and public formation. The adoption of the Constitution of Uzbekistan, at the earliest possible date, played a large and significant role in this process. The Constitution identified one of the main principles of the country’s development, which is the separation of the government on legislative, executive and judicial boards. Each branch of government has undergone through radical changes over the past years. They continue to evolve, these days, according to the needs of our time.

The recent history of Uzbekistan divides the path passed by the country into several, separate stages. The country went through the phase of priority reforms and undergone changes of the transitional period, has developed the foundations of national statehood, and is now experiencing the period of active democratic renewal and modernization. Each stage of Uzbekistan’s formation was full of actions, and each year of the independent development became a kind of a brick for the new house which is called the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The concept for further development put forward buy the head of state in November 2010, which is now being implemented, has raised the democratic development and the development of civil society in the country to a qualitatively new level. There, the President of Uzbekistan identified the problems that the country and society face in the sphere of democratization of the state power and government, legal and judicial reforms, the formation of civil society, making the media free, and the development of entrepreneurship. Six critical notions formulated by Islam Karimov are of great importance for country’s further dynamic development. At present time, the country is actively working upon meeting these goals. Uzbekistan adopted the laws \"On Family Entrepreneurship\", \"On Amendments to the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan \"On Guarantees of Freedom of Entrepreneurship\", \"On Amendments to the Law \"On Bankruptcy\", \"On Amendments to Some Articles of the Constitution (Articles 78, 80, 93, 96 and 98)\" and other laws.

The adoption of these laws were preceded by extensive preparatory work; national experts together with foreign ones discussed legal regulatory mechanisms of the spheres identified in the concept; they analyzed the experience of other countries, and optimized them to the conditions of Uzbekistan. This work continues. The draftsmen’s main objective is to prepare high quality and effective laws, which may be performed in the field.

It goes without saying that Uzbekistan, just as other countries in the world that strive to take their rightful place in international community, ensure peace and prosperity to its people, has it own, clear and well-thought strategy and program of action, that fully meet the requirements and challenges of the rapidly changing world.

Uzbekistan is the active member of authoritative international organizations such as UN, SCO, and a number of specialized agencies. It significantly contributes to finding solutions for many problems of the international community.

As the head of our state has underscored, “today, no one can deny our achievements highly acknowledged in the international arena, the accomplishments made thanks to addressing the wide-ranging tasks and objectives we had set out for ourselves, namely, to join the ranks of modern, advanced democratic nations, to shape civil society, replenish every sphere of life, modernize and diversify the economy. We are all delighted to witness the mounting capacities, our economic and intellectual prowess, the transforming appearance of our cities and villages.”

Transformation through modernization

Today, when the economy of Uzbekistan shows stable growth of GDP despite the ongoing economic crisis, when it has an ever-increasing volume of attracted foreign investments and puts into operation many new high-tech productions, it\'s difficult to imagine that only 21 years ago the country was on the verge of economic crisis inherited from the totalitarian system. During this time, the country has transformed from an agrarian economy, focused on the cultivation of cotton, to a mighty power that produces modern automobiles, agricultural and cargo machines, aircrafts, and high-tech products.

Over the recent years Uzbekistan has implemented a set of measures directed at deepening market reforms and liberalization of the economy, improving the business environment, boosting the competition, stimulating the development of small business and private entrepreneurship. As a result, if compared with figures in the year 2000, the share of small business in GDP rose from 31% to 54%, the number of people employed in this sector of the economy has increased by more than 2 times, and it accounts for over 75.1% of total employment in the economy. Today, private sector of Uzbekistan creates 82.5% of GDP, 91% of industrial production of the country, and almost all agricultural products.

In his speech, Islam Karimov was emphatical that “during the independent development years, Uzbekistan’s economy has grown nearly 3.7 times, per capita real incomes have multiplied sevenfold, and the average pension rates have increased almostninefold, while salaries have grown eighteen times. In this light, life expectancy has risen by seven years, while we have secured fuel and energy as well as grain independence, along with complete self-supply of meats and dairy and other commodities. I would be correct to assert that all this is a practical implementation of the principle we had declared in the wake of attaining independence – the maxim that goes “reforms are not for the sake of reforms, but for the sake of people”. The housing fund in the country has grown twofold for the past years. 98.5 percent of families have a house or apartment of their own, while 97.5 rural families command their own stead – tangible effects of the targeted nationwide programs we have devised and executed.”

Local banking sector is an example of a successful synthesis of global experience and local conditions. During the past five years, the capital adequacy ratio of Uzbekistan’s banking sector stays at the level which is three times higher than the international standard of 8% set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. In 2011, the total capital of commercial banks increased by 30%, if compared with 2010, and accounted to $5.3 trillion soums on January 1 of this year. At the same time, the assets of the banks have also increased by 32.4%.

The Uzbek model of economic development is considered, today, to be one of the most stable and fastest growing in the world. Over the past five years, the growth rates of Uzbekistan’s GDP amount to 8.5%, which is higher than the average growth of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Profound structural changes and quality improvement undergone by Uzbekistan’s economy are testified by following figures: in 2000 the share of industrial production in country\'s total GDP accounted for only 14.2%, while in 2011 it reached 24.1%.

Processes of import substitution and localization became the main factors that brought success. They stirred the development of national industry, reduced economy’s dependence on external factors and enabled manufacturers to make full use of internal production reserves and raw materials.

Just last year alone, dozens of modern enterprise specializing in the production of import-substituting products have been commissioned in Uzbekistan. This year, the enterprises of the country will implement 832 localization projects.

Expounding on future plans, the head of our state stressed that “today, only a nation capable of overwhelming the harsh requirements of the rapidly mounting globalization and the intensifying malicious competence in the world markets,a country moving ahead persistently and tenaciously, with one’s own longer-run development strategy, can reach its own high goals on the way to progress.

Given these pressing issues, we should first and foremost address such priority tasks as consistent and steadfast continuation with reforms we embarked on to renew and modernize the country, intensify democratic transformation and liberalization process, further uplift the level and quality of living.

In the meantime, we should never forget that we are to cherish our priceless boon – i.e. the peace and concord, the atmosphere of kindness and compassion, the civic and interethnic harmony in society – as the apple of the eye.”

To rely on human abilities

People and their harmonious development is the ultimate goal of all reforms in Uzbekistan. From the early days of Independence, the pivotal point of state’s policy is the notion \"Reform, not for the sake of reform itself, but for people\".

Over recent years there have been profound qualitative changes in the level and structure of incomes and welfare of our people. Wages and overall incomes of the population rise steadily; purchasing power is also increasing; the pattern of citizens’ consumption is ameliorating too. The Parliament adopts, each year, the annual programs on job creation and ensuring employment.

During all these years, Uzbekistan pursued strong social policy. This year alone, about 60% of the state budget goes to the social sphere.

A special line in the graph “expenditures” is prescribed to the health care. During the years after the Independence, Uzbekistan has taken measures towards the development of institutional and physical conditions to improve quality of medical service, to raise the significance and prestige of the medical workers, improving the payment system and to stimulate their work. Major efforts during health care reform were directed at opening medical units in rural areas, creation of specialized medical centers, building new policlinics and hospitals provided with the latest equipment. In addition, the system of training medical personnel was revised; there have been opened some new modern areas in various disciplines.

Along with efforts to preserve the nation\'s health, education system is also one of the priorities of the state’s policy over the recent years. As president of Uzbekistan has repeatedly stated, the rule of law and establishing democratic civil society can not be achieved without young people that think in a new way. The state has done a lot and intends to do even more in order to educate physically healthy and spiritually rich young people of the new formation that are able to take respectable place in society and become the decisive force for achieving progress and rapid development in the country.

The education reform was designed to make the system of continuing education more open, efficient, and developing, so it can provide physical, intellectual and spiritual development of the society. As part of the reforms the country has adopted the Law \"On Education,\" and National Program for Training, which, according to international experts, is unique regarding its importance and scope. It would be impossible to educate a truly free, harmoniously developed young generation of people without fostering love for sports and healthy lifestyle in children. This large area of work was separated into an entire program - The program for the development of children\'s sports.

It must be said that the National Program for Personnel Training is an essential and integral part of Uzbekistan’s own \"Uzbek model\" of economic and political reforms based on a phased, evolutionary principle of building new society. Investing in the development of youth in Uzbekistan, where youth represent 60% of the population lay the basis for successful modernization. More than 1,600 professional colleges that operate in the country, today, nicely developed system of school and out-of-school education, as well as various international education cooperation programs eligible in Uzbekistan indicate that the main focus in the education is done not on quantitative but rather on qualitative parameters.

There are 9,779 secondary schools in the country, today. More than 8.5 thousands schools, most of them located in rural areas, were reconstructed in the framework of the National Program for the Development of School Education for 2004-2009. 1.4 trillion soums have been spent for this purpose.

At present time, there are 1,396 professional colleges and 141 academic lyceums in the country. It should be particularly noted that such colleges are opened even in the most remote areas of Uzbekistan. Beautiful modern buildings were built for these education institutions.

The system of higher education has also undergone through drastic reforms. Now, it is a two-tier system, consisting of undergraduate and graduate programs. Today there are 59 higher educational institutions in Uzbekistan, as well as 11 regional branches of Tashkent universities and 6 branches of leading foreign universities. Each region has its own university and a number of specialized institutions that prepare professionals to meet the challenges of regional development.

According to analysts, Uzbekistan’s success in social and human development deserves many appreciations. Deeply thoughtful measures and timely implemented actions lead to economic growth and benefited the society. \"Uzbek model\" of development meets the needs of people, associated with globalization, and ensures that Uzbekistan plays an ever-increasing important role in international community.