Edited by Kiyoshi Taniguchi and Begzod M. Djalilov JANUARY 2025 ACCELERATING PRIVATE SECTORAND GREEN TRANSFORMATIONIN UZBEKISTAN Edited by Kiyoshi Taniguchi and Begzod M. Djalilov JANUARY 2025 Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) © 2025 Asian Development Bank6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 1550 Metro Manila, PhilippinesTel +63 2 8632 4444; Fax +63 2 8636 2444www.adb.org Some rights reserved. Published in 2025. ISBN 978-92-9277-071-6 (print); 978-92-9277-072-3 (PDF); 978-92-9277-073-0 (ebook)Publication Stock No. TCS240578-2DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/TCS240578-2 The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policiesof the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for anyconsequence of their use. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that theyare endorsed or recommended by ADB in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, ADB does notintend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. This publication is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/. By using the content of this publication, you agree to be boundby the terms of this license. For attribution, translations, adaptations, and permissions, please read the provisionsand terms of use at https://www.adb.org/terms-use#openaccess. This CC license does not apply to non-ADB copyright materials in this publication. If the material is attributedto another source, please contact the copyright owner or publisher of that source for permission to reproduce it.ADB cannot be held liable for any claims that arise as a result of your use of the material. Please contact pubsmarketing@adb.org if you have questions or comments with respect to content, or if you wishto obtain copyright permission for your intended use that does not fall within these terms, or for permission to usethe ADB logo. Corrigenda to ADB publications may be found at http://www.adb.org/publications/corrigenda. Notes: In this publication, “$” refers to United States dollars.ADB recognizes “China” as the People’s Republic of China and “Kyrgyzstan” as the Kyrgyz Republic.ADB placed its regular assistance to Afghanistan on hold effective 15 August 2021. Tables, Figures, Boxes, and Map....................................................................................................vPreface..............................................................................................................................................viiiAcknowledgments............................................................................................................................xAbbreviations...................................................................................................................................xiExecutive Summary.......................................................................................................................xiii 1.Macroeconomic Performance, Opportunities,and Challenges of Uzbekistan.......................................................................1 Macroeconomic Conditions..............................................................................................................1Inflation............................................................................................................................................... 3Trade and Current Account Balance............................................................................................... 4Fiscal Balance and Fiscal Issues...................................................................................................... 6Government Development Strategy............................................................................................... 6 2.Strategic Investment for Green Growth..................................................... 7 Low-Carbon, Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Investment Needs........................................... 9Strategic Investments in Critical Infrastructure.......................................................................... 12Spatial Planning for Sustainable Urbanization............................................................................28Way Forward..................................................................................................................................... 35 3.Agriculture Development and Food Security Policy...............................38 Introduction................................................................................................................