ABSTRACT
This chapter will focus on economic policies of other major external actors like Japan and the EU in Uzbekistan, which have attempted to develop their own Silk Road type of initiatives in the region. However, they have not been successful in developing their major projects and fostering a lasting trade partnership with this Central Asian state. To understand this, the chapter will begin by analysing some of the specific parameters of Japan’s economic diplomacy towards Uzbekistan. In particular, this chapter will examine the ‘Central Asia Plus Japan’ framework and various specific ‘Silk Road’ projects in Uzbekistan and the region as a whole. Then the chapter will look into the EU’s economic policy in Uzbekistan. It will provide a more detailed overview of Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and the EU’s ‘norm and value’ based approach and analyse in relation to globalisation and geopolitical and geo-economic competition in the region. Finally, the chapter will conclude by demonstrating the EU’s and Japan’s internal as well as external obstacles to develop and expand their commercial interests in the region, linking them explicitly with the analytical framework outlined in Chapter 1.
