Q&A with Ambassador Erozan: Fresh initiatives for Uzbekistan

The OSCE has made considerable efforts to reposition its activities in Central Asia. What effects does this have on your work in Uzbekistan?

One of the main issues discussed during our strategy meetings with the Uzbek authorities last year focused on the re-balancing of the OSCE's work in its classic politico-military, economic and environmental and human dimensions. We have received in this year's budget an additional 450,000 euros to better cover the politico-military and economic and environmental dimensions. Together with Uzbekistan's authorities, we have now begun to implement our 2003 programme, which includes a number of new projects. Some of those have already been made public, for instance on the OSCE Centre in Tashkent's website, and we are hoping that they will attract funding by interested OSCE participating States.

What are the main priorities of the Centre?

A lot of fresh money has gone into the economic and environmental dimension. Here, we are mainly targeting small and medium-sized enterprises, trying to train them about the rules of the game in today's changed political-economical environment. In Uzbekistan, there is no capital to invest in big factories. This can only be provided by foreign investors, but they seem to see the business environment in the country as not friendly enough for large-scale investment. Yes, there is a joint venture between Uzbekistan and Daewoo. But this is only one example. We want to see a hundred examples in this area.

The problem is that investors are still facing a lot of hurdles in this country. Of course, energy and manpower are very cheap, but there are a lot of bureaucratic obstacles, which are in part related to an outdated mentality. It's easy to change the infrastructure of a factory, but in order to change a mentality you need almost a generation.

Another priority is the management of water resources. Today everyone has enough water, but looking at the demographic trends we can expect water shortages in Central Asia for the coming decades. Our first goal is the conservation of water. Under Soviet rule, the Central Asian states did not have to pay for the use of water, which is why they were using it without ever thinking of economizing. Especially in Uzbekistan, with its large-scale cotton production, the methods of water conservation need to be made more efficient. It should also be possible to find an understanding among the five Central Asian states about better resource management. This, however, is a slow process, because often the political will is lacking. I think we can consider ourselves successful if we have a water management concept for Central Asia within the next five years.

Can you tell us more about the Centre's work in the politico-military sphere?

In the coming months, we will hold a seminar on the trafficking of small arms and light weapons. Last year, we trained border guards at the Termez-Hairaton border crossing between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Although the border between the two countries can be considered secure and the checks are efficient, there is still a huge availability of weapons on the market.

The same is true for drugs. One could say that the Silk Road still exists today, but nowadays it is mostly used for trafficking. Traffickers know very well the weaknesses of the system, and we have to do more to set up a water-proof network of border checks. And because the trafficked goods -- be it drugs, arms or human beings -- often end up in Western Europe and the United States, this is not only a Central Asian issue but an OSCE-wide one. Anyone can be affected, any family, any child.

We are also looking at a new initiative with regard to the landmine problem in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is still not a signatory of the Ottawa Anti-Landmine Convention, and every year very many people are killed or injured by landmines on the Uzbek border with Kyrgzystan and Tajikistan. We must find new ways to address this problem, to make the authorities understand what impact the landmines have on the civilian population of their country.

Considering the re-balancing of priorities, will the Centre still be able to focus on human dimension activities?

We consider all this integral parts of our comprehensive approach to security. This year's strategy has been closely developed with the Uzbek authorities, and we mustn't forget that we are working for Uzbekistan and with Uzbekistan, that this is all a joint effort.

In the human dimension one of our main priorities lies in the reform of the prison system. This includes training sessions and efforts to upgrade Uzbek legislation to international and OSCE standards. In the field of promoting media freedom, we want to set up an internet café for journalists, which allows the media to obtain information free of charge. We are already maintaining a legal clinic for journalists that tries to help them with cases they might face whilst practising their profession.

Finally, Uzbekistan will have parliamentary elections in 2004, and we hope that in the coming weeks new political parties will register, and that they will be able to play their role as real opposition parties.