In his recent speech at a meeting with activists from the Jizzakh region, one moment of our President’s address captured the attention of many. He stated:
“If God gives me health and life, there will come days when we will no longer have poverty and unemployment. I have dedicated seven years of my life to this, created a system for it, made laws, and opened the world. I took this job so that my people could live well, achieve their dreams, and so that children could live in prosperity, be happy, and grandchildren could be born healthy, with functioning healthcare and schools, and smooth roads…”
These words touched the hearts of many. Perhaps this is why the quote quickly spread in the media and social networks. Why? Because they were sincere and spoken from the heart.

I
Not long after, two extremely important pieces of news for our country’s life spread across the pages of the media.
The first is from the World Bank. It says: “Uzbekistan reduced the poverty level from 17 percent in 2021 to 11 percent in 2023, with a more significant decline in rural areas (8%) than in cities (4 percentage points). About 1.6 million people have risen out of poverty.”
The second news comes from the Central Bank: “By the end of 2023, the total number of employed people in Uzbekistan increased by 312 thousand compared to the previous year, or by 2.3 percent.”
It is noted that since the second half of the year, labor market indicators have continued to improve. In particular, by January of this year, the unemployment rate in the economy had significantly decreased to 6.8 percent. The main contributors to increased employment were the construction and trade sectors, while the number of people employed in agriculture decreased. Additionally, the demand for labor, measured by the number of job vacancies in the labor market, increased by 14 percent.
These examples are not taken from a writer’s or journalist’s enthusiastic article. The economic data presented is official, as the World Bank acknowledged these indicators in its analysis, confirming that we are on the right track: the ongoing work is bearing fruit.
To be fair, some of our people do not realize the changes happening, as if they do not see them. To such people, I would say: there are concepts in this world like justice and piety, which have not been abolished. And I would also say that Rome, the cradle of human civilization, was not built in a day…
Of course, I am not an economist. However, I live in a country led by a humane President, and as a citizen of my great Motherland, I believe I have the right to express my personal opinion on many processes taking place in this country.

II
The history of the ancient world shows that unexpected changes sometimes completely transform a person, their inner world, thinking, lifestyle, and work. Such transformation fosters love for the Homeland, a sense of involvement in progressive reforms, responsibility for one’s fate and future, and after all this, the greatest changes begin.
I will not be mistaken if I say that my words confirm important processes taking place in the renewed Uzbekistan, which is currently acquiring a completely new image. Perhaps that is why these historical transformations are described by the global community as a “great era of renaissance.”
Indeed, in the early years of independence, specifically until 2016, we faced seemingly insurmountable, difficult, and thorny obstacles. These were peaks related to our thinking, worldview, lifestyle, renewal of our dreams and goals, and life principles that needed reformation.
It is worth noting that in a short historical period, under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, our people have entered a new era, conquering the peaks of the New Uzbekistan with firm confidence, resilience, carefully thought-out plans for the near and long-term future, and a high level of consciousness.

III
Under the President’s leadership, New Uzbekistan is transforming into a state aimed at ensuring a free, well-off, and prosperous life for its people.
The effective results of this work can be seen in the recognition of reputable state and political figures, experts, and analysts. Most importantly, the democratic changes in Uzbekistan are being carried out not to please anyone, not to be praised, not for inclusion in various rankings, but rather for the worthy life and happy future of our people, in the name of national interests.
Frankly speaking, for many years, the state and authorities were far from people’s lives. There is no need to hide: previously, mentioning a hokim or minister, they seemed like higher beings to us. Because they were detached from the people, both the ministries and local authorities were separated by an iron fence. Not only was it impossible to approach a minister or hokim, but even to see them.
Today, officials have come to the people. The President explains this process in very popular language: to descend from above…
Yes, it is true! The state and its bodies must first and foremost serve the people. Only a government built on these principles can rightfully become truly people’s, democratic. The political-legal, socio-economic, and spiritual-enlightenment foundations of such a state and society will be strong and durable. For this reason, improving people’s lives, timely and effectively solving their problems, and raising their living standards and quality has been defined as the main goal of all reforms.
In our country, the activities of state bodies are becoming more open and transparent. Senators and deputies, ministers and hokims, officials of all levels meet with citizens, solving their problems not on paper but in practice. State bodies are open to the people as a whole and to every citizen, actively communicating with them. The presence of forced labor, particularly child labor, unemployment, poverty, problems related to education, healthcare, and housing issues for the population are openly acknowledged. They are being systematically addressed. As a result, people already feel that justice and piety are not just literary concepts from books, but real components of their lives.
As soon as our head of state Shavkat Mirziyoyev took office as President on September 8, 2016, the first thing he did was to establish the activities of people’s receptions. These structures removed the wall between the people and the state. The people’s pain began to reach the head of state directly. As a result, without any embellishment, the true life of people, their real problems were revealed. This allowed the head of state to develop specific measures to heal and develop society.

IV
Today, we all see and feel that our country’s economic system is completely being restructured. No matter how difficult it is, we have begun to practically implement market mechanisms. As the saying goes, first the economy, then politics. We could not talk about spirituality and enlightenment without stabilizing the economy. We began work in this direction by addressing the population’s problems. As a result, today many pressing issues with cash withdrawal from plastic cards through ATMs, discrepancies in exchange rates on the black market and in banks, purchasing foreign currency, obtaining citizenship, acquiring and registering housing and property in any region of Uzbekistan have been resolved.
Reforms have positively impacted the interests of all segments of the population: entrepreneurs have gained freedom and new opportunities to develop their businesses, dehqans and farmers have cluster farms, becoming real owners of their harvest. Meanwhile, in the recent past, we could not take a step without directives from above. It got to the point where we grew cotton on the roofs of our houses, but our lives did not improve from this.
The worst thing is that even after the praised “Morning of Freedom” — independence, not to mention the Soviet regime, we could not give up child and women’s labor. Just yesterday, our defenseless children and helpless women were driven to cotton fields in the scorching summer and cold autumn and spring days…
In those years, millions of people were mandatorily mobilized to harvest cotton. Among them were not only children. In addition to them, workers in education and healthcare, employees of all enterprises and organizations, anyone who could pick cotton were called up for “shock labor.” During this time, education, healthcare, and all other strategically important areas were pushed to the background because cotton was the dominant value of the country’s socio-economic ideology. Moreover, there was a rotten system: if a picker could not collect the set norm, they covered the “debt” with their money…
As I recount and write about our past days, I cannot help but wonder: do some of our people value what we have today, those who literally yesterday, with their card in hand, sought acquaintances from banks or “enterprising benefactors” from higher offices to cash out money, ready to give up to 30 percent of the received money for this selfless service? And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s remember our valiant workers, scientists, and producers, diligently contributing their knowledge and efforts to the prosperity and progress of their country; they, too, remained in the fields until late autumn, searching for stalks of cotton stuck in the rows. Just yesterday, these issues were the most painful problems of our society and reached the peak of injustice.
Indeed, today this miserable and colorless way of life has changed. But it did not happen on its own. And it did not fall from the sky. Why do we quickly forget and not appreciate this?!
Well, let’s not deviate from the main topic. Today, when it comes to economic reforms, we can confidently say that the development of tourism, tax system reform, currency market liberalization, resolution of cash-related problems, changes in the banking-financial sphere, and international financial operations are being implemented based on global standards. Most importantly, the currency market has been liberalized. After all, we restricted free currency conversion for a long time. Now enterprises can freely purchase foreign currency to carry out import operations. Meanwhile, the old economic model was entirely based on the actual absence of conversion, and the conversion system was the most corrupt area. Figuratively speaking, it was the core of the old model.
Without irony, I want to say that today few people remember these past realities and all the positive transformations in our lives. Why? Because here, too, classical values inherent to our mentality work: “good is quickly forgotten.” Yet it was because of conversion problems that many entrepreneurs had to cease their activities. As a result, thousands and thousands of jobs were lost.
Many of our people do not know and do not understand that the difficulties we experience today are, of course, the inevitable consequences of our previous mistakes and shortcomings. Unfortunately, there are few scientists and specialists who could interpret and reveal them.
As a person far from economics, I imagine it this way: yes, there were tracks and wagons, but the problem was that this structure was inclined to stand still. It restricted itself. It was securely fenced. And there was an acute need for external influence to set it in motion. This, so to speak, was liberal policy in economics.
There is a saying among the people: “Better late than never.” Indeed, better late than never. Today, our economy is slowly rising; the train has started moving. And the first picture people see today is created, and everything possible is being done for our entrepreneurs. Their free business is under the close attention and personal control of the head of state. An example of this is the annual dialogue between the President and entrepreneurs, which has become a tradition.
I have witnessed and lived through these problems and want to share my thoughts. For many years I managed a battery factory in Jizzakh. In my activities, I directly faced the problem of cash and conversion. It was, to put it mildly, a real pain, hell for an entrepreneur, a businessman. I will never forget, and when I remember, my heart aches: from midnight to early morning, various meetings and conference calls were held where high-ranking officials, important people argued hoarsely, shouted at each other, quarreled to somehow solve the cash issue; it even came to blows. And the conversion issue was even sharper and more destructive for the economy.
To increase jobs at my plant and improve product quality, I personally found foreign partners, brought in and installed modern equipment from abroad, but when it was time to repay the loan for the equipment in foreign currency, we had to blush with shame before foreign partners. Because converting currency revenue was a big headache. And if by some miracle it was possible to get the currency, be kind enough to share it with the state: give it exactly half. That was the order. This situation was not only with us; other enterprises, business people, producers — all faced this “national tax.” That is why production lagged, foreign investors stopped investing, and as mentioned earlier, our wagons could not move.
Our President knew this problem well and experienced this pain himself. That is why he personally took control of these issues. The first thing he did in the economic sphere was to liberalize the currency market, and the second most important innovation was monetary reform. Moreover, legal foundations were created, opening the gates for free business activities, for their protection, and for supporting the economy. As a result of these efforts, many foreign investors returned to Uzbekistan.
According to universally recognized economic law, to become a full-fledged participant in international trade relations, it is necessary to meet a mandatory condition. This condition is free conversion. Only countries participating in international trade relations can participate in the international division of labor and benefit from the resulting privileges.
The country’s population increases by 2% annually, and by 2030 it is projected to reach 40 million people. To maintain peace and stability in such a large country, to create decent conditions for people, the economy, management, education, and healthcare must be updated, and growth and development must occur in all areas.
With full responsibility, I can say that the strategy “Uzbekistan—2030,” adopted by the head of state, serves precisely these goals. Thanks to consistent reforms, the volume of foreign investments in fixed capital and loans has increased 5 times compared to previous years and exceeded 16 billion dollars in 2017-2023.
A real class of entrepreneurs has formed, becoming a true force in society and a driver of reforms. As a result, in recent years, the gross domestic product has increased from $52.9 billion in 2018 to $90.9 billion in 2023. The purchasing power of the population and the average monthly salary have increased almost 1.6 times compared to 2018, reaching $375.1 today.
Now, relying on the existing potential, we set even higher goals. By 2030, the economy is expected to more than double to $160 billion, with GDP per capita increasing from the current $2,496 to $4,000. As a result, Uzbekistan should enter the ranks of upper-middle-income countries.
To achieve these goals, first of all, it is necessary to develop industry based on advanced technologies. At the same time, labor productivity will double. For this purpose, large projects have long been started jointly with foreign partners, totaling $115 billion. In particular, strategic mega-projects will be launched in the coming years. In Almalyk, three copper-concentration plants and a new copper smelter will begin operations; in Akhangaran, a copper processing cluster; in Navoi, Kungrad, and Karakul, large chemical-polymer clusters; in the Tashkent and Navoi regions, enterprises producing high-value-added finished products from phosphorite raw materials; in Teginbulak and Gallaorol, metallurgical complexes. Thanks to this, by 2030, copper production, necessary for obtaining high-value products, will increase 3.5 times, gold — 1.5 times, silver, and uranium — 3 times.
For the first time in Uzbekistan’s history, we will begin aluminum, lithium, steel, and graphite production. This raw material can be used to manufacture hundreds of new products, including cars, electronics, green energy devices, chemicals, and polymers. This means creating 2.5 million high-paying jobs. As noted by the President in his election program, soon projects of 4 prestigious foreign companies will be launched, real competition will emerge in the automotive industry, and the annual production volume will increase from the current 350,000 to 1 million units. Annually, 300,000 electric cars will be produced. In general, added value in industry will increase from $20 billion to $45 billion.
Taking this opportunity, I want to note that the future of industry and the economy lies in exports. Thousands of new enterprises have been opened in recent years in the leather-shoe, textile, food, electrical, and pharmaceutical sectors. As a result, the volume of exports has increased 1.5 times and exceeded $20 billion. Considering the high costs of entering foreign markets, the strategy is aimed at increasing the production of science-intensive, highly profitable, export-oriented products.

V
A completely new and unique system for solving social problems has been created in our country. It is important that in the new edition of the Constitution, the principle “New Uzbekistan is a social state” is enshrined as a basic norm, aimed at further glorifying human dignity and ensuring a prosperous life for present and future generations. In a social state, an important goal of sustainable development is to support the population in need of social protection, reduce poverty and unemployment, support youth and women’s entrepreneurship, ensure continuous development of education, healthcare, and the spiritual-cultural sphere, effective social insurance, prevent social inequality and sharp social stratification, and create decent living conditions for people.
Today, solving the problem of poverty in Uzbekistan plays a special role in social policy. Active combat against it began in 2020 when the President first officially acknowledged it. Databases have been formed to provide targeted support to the needy population. Since 2021, a mechanism for accounting low-income families by including them in the “Unified Social Protection Registry” information system has been introduced. In 2022, hokims’ assistants, youth leaders, and women activists began working in 9,500 mahallas. With the help of hokims’ assistants, hundreds of thousands of people were employed. In 2017, 500,000 low-income families received social assistance; today, this number exceeds 2.5 million. The amount of allocated funds has increased sevenfold, reaching 13 trillion soums annually.
Thanks to the measures taken, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, the poverty level in our country decreased from 17% to 11% in 2021-2023, with about 1.6 million citizens rising out of poverty. The decisive factor in achieving such results is the systematic and far-sighted policy aimed at teaching the population modern professions, creating suitable jobs, and comprehensively supporting entrepreneurship.
Reducing poverty is a comprehensive task, involving awakening the entrepreneurial spirit of the population, training for professions, and expanding the number of jobs. In this regard, it is worth noting the so-called “iron notebook,” “women’s notebook,” and “youth notebook.” After we started working with socially vulnerable segments of the population based on this system, many of our compatriots not only managed to improve their families’ welfare but also created their enterprises and became employers.
I remember as if it were yesterday, three years ago, we went to Jizzakh as part of the “Women’s Notebook” program. In one of the mahallas in the Sharof Rashidov district, we visited a low-income family. Before my eyes still stands a woman who lost her breadwinner and was left alone with four children in a large and gloomy courtyard; her eyes were full of helplessness and despair. We registered this family and immediately provided the necessary assistance.
Recently, I stopped by this mahalla and paused before the familiar house door. The walls are whitewashed, the gates painted, and the house is cozy. The courtyard has also changed. An orderly greenhouse has appeared in place of the empty plot, and greenery grows everywhere. I met the hostess. Before me stood a confident woman with a firm gait and lively eyes. When we offered help, she graciously said, “Our state, our President saved me from the abyss. In those years, when you came to my house, I was in despair, I couldn’t explain my state of mind. Everything around me seemed hopeless, I couldn’t find a way out. To be left alone with four children… Relatives help once or twice; everyone has their worries. In such difficult days, Allah sent you to me. Thanks to your help, I built a greenhouse, arranged my garden plot, got livestock, and started earning income from it. With the money I earned, I bought sewing machines and provided jobs for five young women in our mahalla…”
Honestly, meeting this woman lifted my spirits. Because I saw that the work started by the President gradually bears fruit, for desperate people, this is a living elixir. Of course, I talked about only one case, one family, and one woman. Meanwhile, in the country, there are many women who have firmly stood on their feet thanks to such social projects, filled their lives with meaning, and benefit society.
When it comes to social protection, it is worth noting that the interests of pensioners are also reliably protected. Currently (as of January 1, 2023), about 12.4 percent of Uzbekistan’s population (4.5 million people) receive pensions and benefits. Recently, their number has been increasing by 200-250 thousand annually. As their ranks expanded, it became clear that some changes were needed in the system. One of the urgent problems of pensioners until 2017 was that they did not receive cash. From February 1 of that year, this issue was resolved: pensions and benefits started to be paid in any form — cash or through a plastic card.
Another positive shift in the pension system occurred in 2019. The maximum salary for pension calculation was increased from 8 MMW to 10 MMW. As a result, the pension size for 531,000 citizens increased. Moreover, from January 1 of that year, working pensioners started receiving their full pensions.
On January 1, 2023, the maximum salary for pension calculation was raised from 10 MMW to 12 MMW.

VI
Science, education, and upbringing are the cornerstones of development and the force that makes a country powerful and a nation great. This is an undeniable truth. That is why in Uzbekistan, much effort and funds are directed towards the comprehensive development of the education system and the training of qualified personnel. In this process, great work has been done to raise the status of teachers. As mentioned earlier, teachers and students have been freed from any form of forced labor, specifically, free labor such as cotton picking, fieldwork, beautification, and construction work.
We all know well that the unjust approach to the education system forced many male teachers to leave their jobs, dishonored the dignity of teachers, and damaged their authority. As a result, as harsh as it may sound, school and child education and upbringing remained in the hands of female educators. Meanwhile, everyone who raises a child in a family knows how important fatherly, male upbringing is for children, and we understand the outcome of such a situation could have been sad.
So why did male teachers leave school? The answer is simple: the money they earned teaching children was not enough to live on. Think about it, a teacher spends all day at school, and the salary is not enough for his needs. Is there a greater humiliation for a person who is the head and breadwinner of the family?! Many of us remember not only school teachers but also university professors and scientists who left their jobs and went to the “Hippodrome” to feed their families.
Of course, I say all this not to reproach or humiliate anyone. That time was like that. And no one was protected from such a fate.
Today, if a person is honest and conscientious, they must admit that the situation in the education sphere has improved. Thanks to the attention given to schools, teachers are returning to their beloved profession. The state pays great attention to their material and moral support. In particular, over the past years, the monthly salary of school teachers has increased 2.5 times, and that of higher education faculty by 4 times. Today, hundreds of teachers teach in ordinary rural schools and receive a salary of a thousand dollars.
Let’s look at this situation using the example of university professors. In 2016, they received a salary of about 2 million soums, and from December 1, 2023, this amount reached 11 million 148 thousand soums. Additionally, teachers are paid an extra 60 percent from the budget for a scientific degree. Overall, no one can deny that the education sphere has become an arena of great reforms today.
Take, for example, the presidential school system, which has emerged on this same field in recent years. Such a primary education system meeting world standards has been created in all regions today. And most gratifying is that their graduates receive grants to enter the most prestigious universities in the world. Thanks to these reforms, private education has developed in our country, and now more than 383 private schools and over 65 non-state higher educational institutions operate.
The number of universities in our country has exceeded 210. Among them are branches of prestigious world universities. Coverage with higher education increased from 9% to 42%.
I cannot help but recall the sad episodes that took place in those times in the education system, which we have almost forgotten today. Just 8 years ago, with the arrival of spring, our capital and cities with universities were filled with parents of applicants with money bags. The goal was to get their child into a university. Nobody believed in concepts like knowledge, justice, or luck. Everyone knew that nothing was resolved without money. The children knew this, too. There were reasons for this. First, the education sphere was the most corrupt, and second, the number of available universities was not proportional to the number of graduates. Today, education is accessible to many. An applicant can apply to several universities at once and become a student of one of them.
And who remembers these changes today?!
It is appropriate to say here that today, the issues of building modern schools and reconstructing old ones are also under the special control of the President. Now, even in the most remote villages, there are no schools left built from clay and stones, with ceilings blackened by dust and smoke.
Let’s look at the truth in the eye. Until recently, our children studied in such buildings, where today people are afraid even to enter. And who can dare to say that all this was achieved easily, without special effort?! Unfortunately, we often do not pay much attention to such things, quickly forget all the good that has been done, and people have a short memory.
Another important aspect of upbringing is the preschool education system. Frankly speaking, in Soviet times, this system was not at such a high level and was far from perfect, but there was a certain order. Even in villages, there were concepts like nurseries and kindergartens. Women sent their children there and had the opportunity to work in state jobs or engage in other activities. This process was interrupted in the years of independence. Such institutions in cities and villages started closing, and their buildings and land plots went under the hammer.
The most interesting thing is that an entire generation, especially in rural areas, seemed to forget what a kindergarten was. This concept even left our everyday vocabulary. Yet we could not resist giving false loud promises, shamelessly asserting that “conditions should be created for rural women, they should work in the modern world, take care of themselves, and have equal conditions with urban women.” And no one thought that a rural woman has three or four children, whom there is no one to leave with if she goes to work. Moreover, in TV shows, emotional lessons of ethics and aesthetics were given, insisting that a rural woman should also take care of herself, dress well, which, you see, is an important factor for family stability. Honestly, that is the truth; there is no mistake: every woman deserves to be beautiful and happy. However, appropriate conditions are needed for this, which no one could provide.
After 2016, these problems began to be resolved without unnecessary fuss, endless socio-economic commentary, explanations, and discussions. In my opinion, they were more focused on solving the problem quickly rather than for PR and enthusiastic applause. Thanks to these efforts, the number of preschool education institutions has increased 6 times in subsequent years. The private sector’s participation in the industry has significantly increased. Hundreds of family kindergartens have been organized in remote and hard-to-reach areas. As a result, the coverage of children in preschool educational institutions reached 74.3 percent. Now measures are being taken to raise this indicator to 80% by 2025.
Most importantly, according to the “Education—2030” concept adopted in Uzbekistan, reforms are continuing consistently.
However, one moment surprises me: there are many changes in the education system, the authority of teachers, professors, and academics is growing, so why does our intelligentsia not speak about them, or their conversations do not go beyond a narrow circle?! After all, who, if not them, knows and understands the situation best, which was still there 7-8 years ago?

IX
Of course, it is impossible to fully cover the head of state’s foreign, domestic, and regional policies in one article. Therefore, I touched briefly on some reforms and historical renewals. And I realized that this process allows us to clearly imagine the vivid image of our Nation’s Leader — a political portrait.
We began the article with a quote from our President. Of course, there is a reason for this. At that meeting, the head of state, in my opinion, opened his heart to the people. He shared his dream with the people. These sincere words, coming from the depths of the soul, sounded like a report of the President to the people.
This fervent speech resonated in our hearts. I believe that the resolve of the Nation’s Leader, who does not spare his life for the sake of the people, and his unquenchable love for the Homeland and nation will serve as a source of inspiration for all of us on the path to creating a bright future for New Uzbekistan.

Kudratilla Rafikov,
Political Scientist