Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 6-7 December, Moscow hosted the VIII International Scientific and Expert Forum "Primakov Readings" on the topic: "Transformation of the world order: the Eurasian dimension", which brought together a solid team of experts, politicians, diplomats, scientists from about 20 countries, including the USA, China, India, Turkey, Iran, the CIS, Central Asia and other states.

The participants of the event focused on issues related to the current situation in the world and its impact on the economy, politics, security at the global and regional levels.

Speaking at the session “Cooperation in Eurasia against the backdrop of the globalization crisis”, Akramjon Nematov, First Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, noted that today there is a profound transformation of the world order, which is accompanied by an aggravation of geopolitical confrontation and an aggravation of the economic crisis.

According to him, the rupture of traditional commodity-production and transport-logistics chains, the widespread policy of protectionism and the use of sanctions as a tool of pressure and promotion of their interests destabilize the energy, food and financial markets, which provokes inflation and, as a result, leads to a decline in demand for products, production volumes and rising unemployment.

Uncertainty and unpredictability in world economic relations lead to an outflow of investments from developing countries, limited access to technology and innovation.

These problems, the ISMI Deputy Director emphasized, are increasingly negatively affecting the sustainable development of the countries of the Eurasian continent, including the states of Central Asia, where inflation exceeds the world average. In particular, the introduction of political and economic restrictions, the rise in energy prices have led to an increase in the cost of transport and logistics costs, which negatively affects the trade opportunities of the Central Asian states.

In addition, the region faces the problem of high food prices, where dependence on imports is 10-60%. Moreover, the risks of outflow of investments from developing countries jeopardize plans for further modernization of national economies.

Given the lack of dialogue and trust in international relations, the ongoing process of forming a multipolar world, these trends will be long-term, which dictates the need to develop consolidated measures to increase the competitiveness and sustainability of the economies of the Eurasian states.

In this regard, the importance of developing a capacious regional market, finding new growth points and drivers for mutually beneficial cooperation in the long term was noted.

For this, as Akramjon Nematov pointed out, Central Asia has all the necessary prerequisites. It was noted that, being located at the geostrategically important crossroads of the Eurasian continent, the region has a unique transport and communication potential. Moreover, a rich material and raw material base allows the development of domestic production in the region. Another advantage is a promising qualified labor market. Full use of existing opportunities will allow the region to become an important link in the transport, logistics and value chains on the continent.

As the First Deputy Director of ISMI noted, this is also facilitated by a completely new atmosphere of good neighborliness and mutually beneficial cooperation in Central Asia, formed in recent years thanks to the initiative policy of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Today, the states of the region demonstrate sustainable rates of economic development. From 2016 to 2021, the total foreign trade turnover of the countries of Central Asia increased by 54%, reaching US$167 billion, intra-regional trade showed an increase of 3 times - from US$5.5 to US$16.5 billion, the number of joint ventures increased by 5 times, the share of investments in Central Asia of the total volume in the world increased from 1.6% to 2.5%, amounting to 2.5% in 2021. 34.3 billion dollars, while mutual investments increased 3.2 times. As a result, regional GDP grew by 19.6% to US$328.7 billion in 2021.

In this regard, Akromjon Nematov emphasized the importance of implementing the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan to form a common space for industrial and technological cooperation and new economic opportunities in the vast Eurasian region.

At the same time, the expert noted the need to strengthen political dialogue, restore trust between partners in order to prevent further sanctions pressure, remove barriers to trade, prevent increased protectionism, and introduce new restrictions that destabilize global markets as the main priority.

The key task is the formation of stable production and supply chains, stimulation of joint programs of industrial cooperation, localization and import substitution through the use of competitive advantages and complementarity of the economies of countries, protection and promotion of mutual investments, primarily in the development of infrastructure, competitive industry and the service sector

The need for accelerated implementation of promising mutually beneficial transport and communication projects was indicated. Here, the demand for projects for the construction of railways "Termez-Mazari-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar" and China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan was noted.

“These roads will organically complement the existing routes, contributing to the transformation of our space into a key link in transcontinental transport, reducing their time and cost several times,” Akramjon Nematov emphasized.

One of the drivers of economic growth is the transition to a "green" economy. According to the expert, "green" transformation is a priority for the states of Central Asia, which are experiencing the most acute negative consequences of climate change. The need was emphasized to focus on the development of alternative energy, primarily hydro, solar and wind generation, with the organization of mutual supplies of electricity, the widespread introduction of water-saving and environmentally friendly technologies, as well as the rational use of water resources.

Akromjon Nematov also focused on the importance of developing technologies, expanding digital approaches in order to compete in new conditions, by making full use of the potential of innovation transfer, actively stimulating digitalization, developing cloud technologies, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of things.

Moreover, according to him, “today it is especially necessary to develop effective measures to overcome the food crisis, new approaches in such areas as the formation of sustainable schemes for the production of food products and optimal chains of their delivery, the harmonization of technical regulations for the growth of intraregional trade, the creation of an integrated monitoring system food security in Eurasia”.