Q1: What is the current situation in economic, political, cultural, scientific and technological relations between the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan?

There have been many successful examples between the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan in these various fields in the years since independence. It remains important to build on these. 

Over the past ten years the British Embassy has been involved in many projects here. Over sixty poverty reduction projects were implemented with the support of the British Government’s Department for International Development (DfID). These included a four-year micro-credit project to help private farmers in the Bulungur District of Samarkand Region to set up a service-oriented independent farm association. Another important programme worked with the Uzbek Government to improve the quality and accessibility of primary health care to the rural poor through training of general practitioners.  At the moment, DfID are contributing to the World Bank’s major regional HIV/AIDS programme for Central Asia.

In 2005, UK exports to Uzbekistan totalled £21.4 million ($41 mn). Our imports were worth £29.1 million ($55mn). British companies are active in many of Uzbekistan’s main economic sectors, including energy, mining and cotton. British experts provide consultancy advice in the construction, automotive and service sectors.  I would like to see further strengthening of commercial links between our countries (– including more inward investment to the UK! We have much to offer, ranging from banking, insurance and other financial services, to science and innovation).  Whether in Europe or Asia, potential investors will be asking the same questions: is this a business-friendly environment? Is the tax and regulatory burden predictable and manageable? Is corruption under control? Are contracts properly enforced through the courts of law?  The winners will be those countries who have the best answers.

I am a strong believer in learning the lessons of geography. Britain is an island, and really thrived when it learnt to take advantage of the benefits of economic openness and free trade. Uzbekistan is far from the oceans, but has its own deeply ingrained tradition of trade along the Silk Road to promote prosperity.  Uzbekistan is also in transition after seventy years of communism.  Transitions can be lengthy and complex, as Britain found when we had to rebuild our economy after the war. But even gradual change can be difficult and Britain was eventually forced to make major structural reforms in the 1980s in order to liberalise our economy.  The rewards for these adjustments included higher growth rates and lower inflation and unemployment rates in the 1990s. Circumstances differ between nations and each country has to make its own decisions. But there is much that can be learnt from the experience of others, and the rapid economic growth and poverty reduction rates in the more market-based economies tell their own story.  We remain ready to share our ideas and experience – both our success stories, and some of the lessons we learnt the hard way!

Q2: What is the British Council, its role and importance in establishment and development of friendly relations between the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan?

I am delighted that you asked about the British Council. It gives me an opportunity to talk about an organisation that has done much to promote the UK overseas.  The Council was established many years ago by Royal Charter to promote educational and cultural links with other countries.  The Foreign Office provides much of their funding, but the Council has a wide mandate. In Uzbekistan, this has led to projects in areas including: social partnership in vocational education; national university entrance testing; student centred teacher training; supported open learning; reader development; English language teacher and learner support; co-operation in the creative arts; educational television; economic co-operation and tourism promotion. 

I first became a fan of their work when I lived in Africa twenty years ago.  Back then I was struck by their enthusiasm, professionalism and a commitment to partnership with the host country.  The same is true today in Uzbekistan. The Council is celebrating ten years of co-operation, working closely with the Ministries of Higher and Specialised Secondary Education and of Public Education and with universities and teacher training colleges, with schools, theatres, dance and music organisations, as well as with museums and craft centres. They are well known for their training of English Language teacher trainers, but their support for education and science goes well beyond this. They have a valued arts programme, in collaboration with many excellent local musicians, dancers and filmmakers.

I cannot hope to do justice to all their work here, so I encourage those who want to know more to visit their website at www.britishcouncil.org/uzbekistan. But I will leave you with one specific example. Under the “Global Exchange” project nine young British volunteers and nine Uzbek volunteers worked together for three months in 2005 in Bukhara to support local community projects to help orphanages, and disabled and elderly people. The team then moved to Bradford, England, to do the same thing there. It was an excellent example of working together for mutual benefit.   

Q3:  What is “Insight UK” magazine -its format, circulation, periodicity, content, language and ways of distribution?

We are always looking for ways to spread the word in Uzbekistan about Britain, UK-Uzbek co-operation and the work of the British Embassy.  For many in Uzbekistan, the British Embassy is mainly a visa-issuing office. This is not surprising, since we issue more than 2,000 visas a year to Uzbeks who want to live, study or work in the UK.

The Embassy is so much more than that, however.  We launched Insight UK as a means of informing our Uzbek friends of recent developments in the UK and the full range of activities at the British Embassy.  The magazine comes out every three months, and we include articles in English, Russian and Uzbek. In the last two issues, we talked about British foreign policy; Muslims in the UK; music and sport; The Queen’s 80th Birthday; the tenth anniversary of the visit of The Prince of Wales to open our embassy building; and the activities of the British Council and Westminster University in Tashkent.

Our circulation is modest at this stage – just a few hundred copies.  However, we hope to increase this over time as the magazine becomes better known. We also plan to put future issues online at our website www.britain.uz. We are hoping that Uzbeks wanting to know more about our country and our Embassy will visit the website.

Q4: What is the meaning of the British Embassy’s website renovation and enlargement?

The Embassy is very aware of the need to keep our website under review if we are to continue to attract Uzbek visitors.  There is plenty of information and news about aspects of British life and the work of the Embassy, and in 2005 we launched a Russian language version of the site.  But it is important not to rest on one’s laurels. We value the feedback that we get from Uzbeks looking at the site. We also use an independent reviewer in the UK to tell us of the latest technical and design developments that will make our site more useful to our customers. 

As I know from my own browsing habits, sites have to be kept fresh. With this in mind, we are looking to enlarge our section on local Embassy news, including by putting our Insight UK magazine online. We will also be looking to increase the amount of Uzbek language content on the site. As always, comments on the results will be welcome.

Q5: How do you see the future of UK-Uzbekistan relations?

I tend to be one of life’s optimists – at least in the longer term! There are so many areas of common interest on which we need to co-operate. Whether it is threats from terrorism, the narcotics trade and health pandemics, or the impact of climate change and globalisation, we need to work across borders – and continents – to identify and develop a common response.   Whatever differences we have, the areas of common interest remain much larger.  Support for universal human values that allows citizens to meet their political, economic and social aspirations must remain at the heart of foreign policy.  The British Embassy’s mission statement is to promote and protect UK interests in a secure and progressive Uzbekistan.  We are committed to doing everything we can with our Uzbek, EU and other international partners to move towards this goal.