World Grain - January 2020 - 18

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UZBEKISTAN
Country shifting to a more
market-oriented grains sector
by Chris Lyddon

Landlocked Uzbekistan has gone through a long process of restructuring its farming industry since the dissolution of the Soviet
Union and it is preparing to do more, shifting its grains sector to
a more market-oriented system.
In its most recent Grains Market Report, the International
Grains Council (IGC) forecasts Uzbekistan's 2019-20 grains
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month earlier and up from 6.6 million tonnes the previous year.
The country's total grains imports are put at 2.9 million tonnes,
an unchanged forecast that is down from 3 million tonnes in
2018-19.
In a Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS)
report published May 28, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported on the good conditions
that Uzbekistan had experienced for the production of its 2019
grain crops.
"Between October 2018 and April 2019, precipitation was adHTXDWHDQGDOWKRXJKLQWKH¿UVWKDOIRI0D\UDLQOHYHOVZHUHZHOO
below the average across the country, remote sensing data shows
good crop conditions in the most cropping areas," the FAO said.
The UN organization explained that the 2018
crop, which it set at 6.8 million tonnes of
mainly wheat, was 14% down on the
¿YH\HDUDYHUDJH³UHÀHFWLQJDGYHUVH
weather conditions between March
and May 2018, which had a negative impact on yields."
The result was 2018-19
grain import requirements
that were 15% above the
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"Over the last years, the
country decreased the imSRUWV RI ZKHDW ÀRXU ZKLFK
halved between 2011-12 and
2017-18) and raised its purchases of high-quality wheat
grain from Kazakhstan, due to
increased local milling capacities,"
the FAO explained. "This allows the
18

Capital: Tashkent (Toshkent)
Population: 30,023,709 (July 2018 est.)
Religions: Muslim 88% (mostly Sunni), Eastern Orthodox 9%, other 3%.
Location: Central Asia, north of Turkmenistan, south
of Kazakhstan.
Government: Presidential republic; highly authoritarian. Chief of state: President Shaykat Mirziyoyev
(since Dec. 4, 2016); head of government: Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov (since Dec. 14, 2016).
Economy: Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country
in which 51% of the population lives in urban settlements. The agriculture-rich Fergana Valley, in which
Uzbekistan's eastern borders are situated, has been
counted among the most densely populated parts of
Central Asia. Since its independence in September
1991, the government has largely maintained its Soviet-style command economy with subsidies and tight
controls on production, prices, and access to foreign
currency. Despite ongoing efforts to diversify crops,
Uzbek agriculture remains largely centered on cotton;
Uzbekistan is the world's fifth-largest cotton exporter
and seventh-largest producer. Uzbekistan's growth
has been driven primarily by state-led investments,
and exports of natural gas, gold, and cotton provides
a significant share of foreign exchange earnings. Recently, lower global commodity prices and economic
slowdowns in neighboring Russia and China have
hurt Uzbekistan's trade and investment and worsened its foreign currency shortage. Aware of the need
to improve the investment climate, the government
is taking incremental steps to reform the business
sector and address impediments to foreign investment in the country. Since the death of President
Islam Karimov and the ensuing election of President
Shavkat Mirziyoyev, emphasis on such initiatives and
government efforts to improve the private sector have
increased. In the past, Uzbek authorities accused the
U.S. and other foreign companies operating in Uzbekistan of violating Uzbek laws and have frozen and
seized their assets. As a part of its economic reform
efforts, the Uzbek government is looking to expand
opportunities for small and medium enterprises and
prioritizes increasing foreign direct investment. In
September 2017, the government devalued the official currency rate by almost 50% and announced the
loosening of currency restrictions to eliminate the currency black market, increase access to hard currency,
and boost investment.
GDP per capita: $6,900 (2017 est.); inflation:
12.5% (2017 est.); unemployment: 5% (2017 est.).
Currency: Uzbekistani soum (UZS): 9,520 soums
equal 1 U.S. dollar (Dec. 16, 2019).
Exports: $11.48 billion (2017 est.): energy products,
cotton, gold, mineral fertilizers, ferrous and nonferrous metals, textiles, foodstuffs, machinery, automobiles.
Imports: $11.42 billion (2017 est.): machinery and
equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, ferrous and nonferrous metals.
Agriculture: 17.9% (2017 est.) of GDP and 25.9%
of the labor force.
Internet: Code: .uz; 13,791,083 users.
Source: CIA World Factbook

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