He says that Uzbekistan should establish relations with those Western countries which understand the country’s stance correctly and respect its national choice The following is the text of the interview published by Uzbek newspaper Pravda Vostoka on 29 December

The events related to the Uzbek presidential election will continue to be in the focus of international observers for a long time. As is known, many foreign experts visited our country in these days. It is notable that among diplomats, political experts and journalists they also included large business representatives. One of them is the head of the well-known British Oxus investment company, Richard Wilkins, who kindly agreed to have a conversation with an Uzbek political expert, Rafik Sayfullin. The following are the key points of their dialogue.

[Rafik Sayfullin] Mr Wilkins, you know our country and people quite well and carry out various business initiatives here. What is your overall impression of the processes in Uzbekistan?

[Richard Wilkins] Yes, I have a pleasure to visit your country frequently and each time I find out more about special role which Uzbekistan plays in the Central Asian region and beyond it.

I think the key conclusion which your foreign partners and your people may draw is that Uzbekistan and its government continuously demonstrate a sense of responsibility for the development of situation in the region which deserves deep respect. If we look back at the past 16 years, a clear and consistent position of Uzbekistan, against a background of the international community’s anxiety about conflicts in neighbouring Afghanistan, Tajikistan and some other countries in the region, has become one of the key factors which prevented conflicts from spreading to larger scales and this costs a lot.

[Sayfullin] I cannot but touch upon the topic of the recent Uzbek presidential election. It is evident that different people give different opinions, including critical ones. Not all commentaries from abroad on the presidential election campaign in Uzbekistan were friendly and impartial. Nevertheless, President Islam Karimov gained outright victory and this is the most important thing because the choice of the absolute majority of the country’s population stands behind it.

[Wilkins] I fully agree and allow myself to dwell on this idea. There are plenty of spiteful and groundless critics everywhere. There are forces which are interested in weakening Uzbekistan’s sovereignty. The range of these forces is quite extensive: from religious extremists to radical democrats. But there are obvious things which I note, in particular, on my each visit to your country.

The political and economic self-sufficiency of Uzbekistan is growing. You can even visually note the results of economic reforms: modernization of infrastructure, large-scale housing construction which is very important as well as improvement in the quality of services and range of products. I am even worried about the rapid growth in the number of vehicles in the country which will cause new problems soon.

These and many other things are the evidence of great efforts made by the Uzbek people and the country’s leader, Islam Karimov. Therefore, it is not surprising that the majority of the population pin their hopes namely on him in terms of further development and progressive changes.

I would like to touch upon democracy separately. Maybe not all of the democratic norms recognized by the West have been adopted in Uzbekistan, but it would be ruinous to push this process. We moved to our democratic system in Britain for hundreds of years. And it is extremely important to strengthen stability and manageability of social processes in Uzbekistan, because only this may form a real basis for further development of democratic processes. In my opinion, President Islam Karimov is currently the person who can guarantee pursuing this approach.

[Sayfullin] Yes, but there are also different opinions in Britain.

[Wilkins] Of course, they exist as everywhere. The important thing is not to pay attention to them. After all, Uzbekistan is an independent country and has a right to choose its own path for development and ways to achieve its declared objectives. Concerning the Uzbek-British relations, I adhere to those British people who are extremely interested in developing a constructive dialogue between Tashkent and London in all aspects of bilateral relations.

[Sayfullin] You are a successful businessman. In your opinion, what are the most promising directions for cooperation between Uzbekistan and Western countries in the short and long term?

[Wilkins] First of all, you have practically completed the period of transition to the fundamentals of market economy and political pluralism. The important thing is to fix the achievements and continue to work in the directions set by your government at a faster pace.

As I already said, everyone choose his own freedom. You have determined your path to freedom and need to move along this path resolutely without looking back. Relations of Uzbekistan with Western community certainly have prospects, but in my opinion you need to establish relations with those Western countries which understand your viewpoint correctly and respect your national choice.

Source: BBC Monitoring Central Asia