Uzbekistan - United States Relations

On April 26, 2019, ACIR will host Javlon Vakhabov, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the United States. He will speak about Uzbekistan - United States relations and the future of economic ties between our two countries.

Strategically located, Uzbekistan sits in a volatile part of the world, astride the ancient Silk Route cities of Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva. Today it remains an important cross roads for commerce. Since the death of President Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan’s second president since independence, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has embarked on a new course, described as a A Quiet Revolution and Revolution from Above. Among other things, he stated  a gradual transition to a market economy. Uzbekistan’s currency is now fully convertible at market rates. It is a major producer and exporter of cotton and has become the largest electricity producer in Central Asia. Remarkably, renewable energy constitutes more than 23% of the country’s energy sector. Come and engage in a dialogue with Ambassador Vakhabov on the future of political, economic, and security relations between our two countries.

Ambassador Javlon Vakhabov presented his credentials to President Donald Trump on November 29, 2017. Since then he has emphasized his country's turn towards openness and reform since the death of former President Islam Karimov.

Born August 7, 1980, in Tashkent, Ambassador Vakhabov earned an undergraduate degree at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent and a graduate degree in international law at the same institution. He joined the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2001, serving early career assignments as an attache, 3rd secretary, and chief of division. In 2006 he was appointed to the Uzbek National Security Council before being promoted to deputy security of the Council in 2011. In 2013, Ambassador Vakhabov served as the Director of the Institute for Strategic and Inter-Regional Research, a government-funded think tank in Tashkent. He joined the leadership team at the Foreign Ministry in 2013 as one of four deputy ministers of foreign affairs. Finally, in July 2015, he was promoted to first deputy minister of foreign affairs, the title he held when he was appointed ambassador to the U.S.