Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 12 July 2021, at CERR, Director Obid Khakimov met with representatives of the Heritage Foundation delegation (USA) – Director of the Center for International Trade and Economics Terry Miller and senior researcher and editor of the Economic Freedom Index Anthony Kim.

The main topics for discussion were the achieved results of Uzbekistan according to the report "Index of Economic Freedom - 2021".

The Index of Economic Freedom has been compiled by the Heritage Foundation in collaboration with The Wall Street Journal since 1995.

The index ranks the world’s countries on a scale from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest) in four main areas, divided into 12 composite indicators such as Property Rights, Judicial Effectiveness, Government Participation, Tax Burden, Government Spending, Fiscal Health. Freedom of Business, Freedom of the Labor Market, Monetary Freedom, Freedom of Trade, Freedom of Investment, and Financial Freedom.

In the ranking of the Index of Economic Freedom, Uzbekistan has achieved noticeable results in recent years, as the country has risen from 152nd in 2018 to 108th in 2021. Over four years, growth amounted to 44 positions.

Welcoming the guests, Director of CERR Obid Khakimov informed about the large-scale transformations initiated by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as well as plans for the future.

During the talks, the parties discussed in detail the large-scale transformations being carried out in Uzbekistan today, the updated foreign policy of the state in the world arena, including in Central and South Asia, considered the current state and prospects for further development of cooperation.

In turn, the American side noted that the latest changes and reforms being implemented in Uzbekistan to improve public administration are very important and timely.

At the same time, the guests expressed their particular interest in these studies. In particular, the researchers asked what effect the accession to the EAEU could bring to the economy of Uzbekistan - positive or negative. During the meeting, the director of CERR informed the guests about the current research of the Center. It was noted that a large-scale work was carried out to assess the impact and detailed analysis of integration processes within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

During the visit, promising areas of Uzbek-American cooperation were discussed, as well as topical issues of regional security, interaction with regional and global trade and economic structures.

The American side noted that Uzbekistan is one of the countries with the fastest growing GDP and economy, as well as separately noted the rapid growth of the index indicators of Uzbekistan.

Following the meeting, an agreement was reached to establish further close cooperation between the parties on the basis of the CERR research program in 2021.