Taking the First Step: Since independence, the economy of Uzbekistan has had a lot of changes. Before that it had a totally different economy. Present day Uzbekistan has a free market economy. Even though the government has narrowed the gap between the black market and the official exchange rate, its trade regime has crippled the economy. Uzbekistan has the lowest economic growth rate in the world, but still it's developing and finding ways to improve its economy. The state continues to be a dominating influence in the economy and has so far failed to bring about much-needed structural changes.


Uzbekistan is heavily dependent on foreign trade and has had good economic ties with the former U.S.S.R. and other countries including Germany, the U.S., Great Britain, Japan, France, Italy, Korea, Turkey, and China.

The industries are mainly located in the capital Tashkent, and the following cities including Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand. The industries do food processing, machine building, metallurgy, natural gas production, and making elaborate textiles.

Relying on Others: Uzbekistan exports cotton, gold, natural gas, mineral fertilizers, ferrous metals, textiles, food products, and automobiles. Its export partners are Russia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. It imports machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, and foodstuffs. Its import partners are Russia, South Korea, Germany, the United States, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.

The local currency of Uzbekistan is known as "Soum" The exchange rate in 1995 was 30.2:US$1 and is presently 998:US$1. Uzbekistan has also started to produce its own cars having signed a contract with Daewoo from South Korea. By seeing the new developments happening we are looking forward to a better future for the country.

Getting on with Others: Regarding foreign Relationships, Uzbeksitan has really good relationships with India which is why it was decided to have an Indo-Uzbek commision when Prime Minister Narasimha visited Uzbekistan. Follow-up meetings were held in New Delhi in 1999. You can tell that it's having good relationships with India because a lot of stuff in the market today is from India. Uzbekistan also has stable trade with the Czech Republic, Turkey, and South Korea. Uzbeksitan joined the Commonweath of Independent States in 1991. Uzbekistan is an active supporter of the U.S. and is strictly against worlwide terorism that is now hapening in the world. It is a member of the United Nations, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, Partnership for Peace, and the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is also part of the organization called Islamic Organization that is made of countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Azherbaijan, and Turkey.

Conclusion. My conclusion is that Uzbekistan has totally changed after independence and it will keep changing until it is a well developed country. It has unique features in its economy which even I was shocked to see. It shows us how it changed from Communism to Democracy. Let's see how this country progresses and hope that it gets whatever it needs to maintain itself as such a wonderful nation.