Uzbekistan has begun marking the 35th anniversary of its independence with a large-scale celebration in New Tashkent, days before the country’s official Independence Day on 1 September.
Uzbekistan proclaimed independence from the Soviet Union on 31 August 1991.
The ceremony brought together Uzbek officials, foreign guests and performers from Uzbekistan and abroad. Spanish tenor José Carreras, British soprano Sarah Brightman and Italian tenor Alessandro Safina were among the international artists taking part, alongside Uzbek singers and dancers. The programme also included 3D projections, lighting effects, robots and a drone show.
The choice of venue was significant. New Tashkent is a major urban development being built alongside the existing capital on a site of around 20,000 hectares. It is ultimately designed for a population of two million, while its first phase, covering 6,000 hectares, is intended to accommodate 600,000 residents. Plans include housing, universities, cultural and scientific institutions, government buildings, business districts and new transport infrastructure.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev used the anniversary address both to look back at the country’s development since independence and to set out priorities for the next decade.
The reform agenda
Mirziyoyev framed independence as a restoration of national identity, paying tribute to the Jadids, a reformist movement of Central Asian intellectuals who promoted modern education and social change, and to Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov.
“Independence gave us back our honour and dignity, our mother tongue and our national values,” he said.
Much of his speech, however, focused on the reforms pursued over the past decade as Uzbekistan has sought to open its economy and strengthen relations with its neighbours and international partners.
He pointed to the end of systemic forced and child labour in the cotton harvest, the lifting of restrictions on currency conversion and the easing of restrictions on residence registration.
The president also cited changes in taxation, customs and investment policy as evidence of the country’s economic opening. He said annual foreign investment had increased from around $2 – 3bn (€1.7 – 2.6bn) to $40 – 50bn (€34.5 – 43.2bn).
Mirziyoyev said Uzbekistan had initially aimed to raise gross domestic product to $160bn (€138bn) by 2030 but now expected to exceed that level in 2026.
The president also said poverty had fallen from 35% in 2017 to 4% this year.
Seven programmes for the next decade
President Mirziyoyev described the coming ten years as a new period of national development and announced seven programmes covering education, healthcare, the economy, the environment, the rule of law, local government and foreign policy.
Among the main ambitious economic targets is a plan to attract $450bn (€388bn) in foreign investment over the next decade and increase GDP to $300bn (€259bn) by 2030. The government also aims to create two million high-income jobs in industry and make start-ups, venture capital and artificial intelligence priority areas for development.
In education, Uzbekistan plans to provide preparatory education to all six-year-olds, introduce international standards across technical colleges, train up to one million young people for higher-income professions and place at least ten Uzbek universities among the world’s top 1,000.
Healthcare spending is planned to rise to 5% of GDP over the next five years, alongside the expansion of preventive medicine and state health insurance.
Another programme targets water scarcity and environmental pressures, with the government aiming to introduce water-saving technologies across all cultivated land within five years.
Plans also call for stronger judicial independence and legal protections for citizens and businesses.
The mahalla, Uzbekistan’s traditional neighbourhood-based system of local community organisation, is also set to play a greater role. District budgets, investment programmes and infrastructure projects are intended to be shaped increasingly by priorities identified at neighbourhood level.
A bigger international role
The seventh programme focuses explicitly on Uzbekistan’s international position.
The President said the country would continue what he described as an open, pragmatic foreign policy, prioritising close relations within Central Asia while expanding partnerships with the European Union, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Arab and Muslim world.
Uzbekistan is also due to chair the Non-Aligned Movement for the first time from 2027 to 2029. The grouping brings together more than 120 countries, making it one of the world’s largest groupings of states.
After the president’s address, the anniversary ceremony moved from speeches to spectacle. As darkness fell over New Tashkent, the programme culminated in a major concert, choreographed light and visual displays and drones forming images above the venue, bringing the anniversary ceremony in New Tashkent to a close.