BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 21. The memorandum of understanding signed between Uzbekistan and the OECD opens new opportunities for expanding cooperation across a wide range of reform areas, William Tompson, Head of the Eurasia Division at the OECD Directorate for Global Relations and Co-operation told Trend, commenting on the document signed in February 2025.
According to him, the accord establishes a structure for bolstering reforms in areas such as public governance and anti-corruption, environmental stewardship, tax and public finance oversight, employment, education and skill enhancement, along with competitiveness, investment environment, trade and transport linkages, privatization, SME growth, and the prudent advancement of essential minerals.
"The existence of the MOU will make it far easier to organize the modalities of cooperation. We are currently in discussions with the authorities in Tashkent to define concrete projects to be launched under the memorandum and the resources required to support them," Tompson said.
He pointed out that rolling out the document will take a step-by-step approach, given that the memorandum spans a wide array of areas.
"It would be impossible to start work simultaneously in all 19 areas identified in the MOU, so the first step will be to conduct a baseline assessment and prepare a roadmap defining the sequence of further actions," he said.
According to Tompson, the memorandum provides for several formats of cooperation, including analytical studies and national policy reviews, exchange of statistical data and information, joint meetings, seminars and workshops, as well as direct interaction between experts and government officials through missions and secondments.
He added that the agreement also provides for expanding Uzbekistan’s participation in OECD bodies and projects, gradual alignment with OECD standards, and technical assistance aimed at strengthening institutional capacity.
"The MOU opens up substantial new opportunities for cooperation between the OECD and Uzbekistan and will allow us to move to more structured and practical engagement," Tompson said.