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Table of Contents
Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia. It is a unitary, constitutional, presidential republic, comprising 12 provinces, 1 autonomous republic, and 1 independent city. Uzbekistan is bordered by five countries, that are Kazakhstan and the Aral Sea to the north, Tajikistan to the southeast; Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Afghanistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest. Uzbekistan's economy relies mainly on commodity production, including cotton, gold, uranium, and natural gas. t are Kazakhstan and the Aral Sea to the north, Tajikistan to the southeast; Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Afghanistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest.
| Uzbekistan Country Information (Source: OECD) | |
|---|---|
Population | 29.77 million (2012) |
GDP | $51.11 billion (2012) |
Income Level | Lower Middle |
Life Expectancy | 68 |
Improved Water Sources | 81% |
1 . PEST Analysis of Uzbekistan
Political environment
Uzbekistan is a secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage. Uzbekistan, out of the Post-Soviet states, includes the highest number of political prisoners, a complete lack of freedom of speech, assembly, media, and movement, widespread torture, forced labor and religious persecution. The country's official language is Uzbek, a Turkic language spoken natively by approximately 85% of the population. Uzbeks constitute almost 81% of the population. Minorities include Russians at 5.4% and others at 13.5%. The vast majority of the population is Muslim. Uzbekistan is a member of the CIS, OSCE, UN, and the SCO. The Republic of Uzbekistan is a presidential constitutional republic, whereby the President of Uzbekistan is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Supreme Assembly, the Senate and the Legislative Chamber. The judicial branch, or judiciary, is composed of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and Higher Economic Court that exercises judicial power.
Economical Environment
Uzbekistan has the 4th largest gold deposits in the world. The country mines 80 tons of gold annually, seventh in the world. Uzbekistan's copper deposits rank tenth in the world and its uranium deposits twelfth. The country's uranium production ranks seventh globally. The Uzbek national gas company, Uzbekneftegas, ranks 11th in the world in natural gas production with an annual output of 60 to 70 billion cubic meters. The country has significant untapped reserves of oil and gas: there are 194 deposits of hydrocarbons in Uzbekistan, including 98 condensate and natural gas deposits and 96 gas condensate deposits. Working closely with the IMF, the government has made considerable progress in reducing inflation and the budget deficit. The national currency was made convertible in 2003 as part of the IMF-engineered stabilization program, although some administrative restrictions remain. The largest corporations involved in Uzbekistan's energy sector are the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Petronas, the Korea National Oil Corporation, Gazprom, Lukoil, and Uzbekneftegas. Since gaining independence, the Government of Uzbekistan has stated that it is committed to a gradual transition to a market-based economy. The progress with economic policy reforms has been a cautious one, but cumulatively Uzbekistan has shown respectable achievements. Given the growing economy, the total number of people employed rose from 8.5 million in 1995 to 13.5 million in 2011, and this healthy increase of nearly 25% in the labor force lagged behind the increase in GDP during the same period of 64%, which implies a significant increase in labor productivity. Official unemployment is very low: less than 30,000 job seekers were registered in government labor exchanges in 2005-2006, that is 0.3% of the labor force.
Social Environment
Uzbekistan has an area of 172,700 square miles. It is the 56th largest country in the world by area and the 42nd by population. Among the CIS countries, it is the 5th largest by area and the 3rd largest by population. Uzbekistan is Central Asia's most populous country. Its 30,183,400 citizens comprise nearly half the region's total population. The population of Uzbekistan is very young: 34.1% of its people are younger than 14, and according to official sources, Uzbeks comprise a majority of almost 80% of the total population. Other ethnic groups include Russians at 5.5%, Tajiks at 5%, Kazakhs at 3%, Karakalpaks at 2.5% and Tatars at1.5%.
Technological Environment
According to the official source report, as of 10 March 2008, the number of cellular phone users in Uzbekistan reached 7 million, up from 3.7 million on 1 July 2007. Internet Censorship exists in Uzbekistan and in October 2012 the government toughened internet censorship by blocking access to proxy servers. Reporters Without Bordershas named Uzbekistan's government an enemy of the internet and government control over the internet has increased dramatically since the start of the Arab Spring.Uzbekistan has a high literacy rate, with about 99.3% of adults above the age of 15 being able to read and write. However with only 76% of the under 15 population currently enrolled in education.
2 . Future Trends in Uzbekistan
The movement toward economic reform in Uzbekistan has not been matched by movement toward political reform. The government of Uzbekistan has instead tightened its grip since independence, cracking down increasingly on opposition groups. Although the names have changed, the institutions of government remain similar to those that existed before the breakup of the Soviet Union. Despite the trappings of institutional change, the first years of independence saw more resistance than acceptance of the institutional changes required for democratic reform to take hold. Whatever initial movement toward democracy existed in Uzbekistan in the early days of independence seems to have been overcome by the inertia of the remaining Soviet-style strong centralized leadership.
