“Uzbekistan’s independence is important for Great Britain.” Ambassador Timothy Smart on reforms, cooperation, and regional security

“Uzbekistan’s independence is important for the UK.” Ambassador Timothy Smart on reforms, cooperation, and regional security

The British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Timothy Smart, is concluding his mission in Tashkent. He served as His Majesty’s Ambassador from 2023 to 2026. On the eve of his departure, in his final interview in this role, he spoke to Gazeta about the changes in trade, investment, education, and security, why Uzbekistan’s independence and territorial integrity are important to the UK, and the prospects for cooperation with Central Asia.

— After arriving in Uzbekistan, I focused primarily on strengthening ties between Uzbekistan and my country: how to achieve growth in trade and investment, as well as in the security sector and people-to-people relations? All of this was built on the foundation laid by previous ambassadors — Tim Torlot, Chris Allan, and everyone who worked here before them. Given your vast history and culture, we realized that the real opportunities and fundamental changes in our relations and the region as a whole occurred after 2016.

When I took office in 2023, we were just emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, the government in Kabul had already collapsed, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had already taken place. In other words, the geopolitical situation had already become much more complex.

A month before my arrival in Tashkent, I attended a meeting in the UK between the then British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov. I remember their first face-to-face meeting, it was a wonderful moment — they greeted each other with a warm embrace. At that moment, I immediately felt genuine sincerity and a warm welcome.

Your reform agenda is truly impressive, and we are ready to cooperate with you in areas where our support can bring real benefits.

We understand that your country is located in a complex region, especially considering the situation in Afghanistan, which lies south of your border. We also acknowledge that you understand the geopolitical situation of your country better than we do. True, we encourage you to do everything in your power to help end the war in Ukraine, but we also understand how sensitive this issue is for you. Therefore, first of all, we want to hear from you: how can we help? How can we support your reform agenda, your territorial integrity, and your independence?

And I have heard that every British minister, every foreign secretary, and others who meet with their Uzbek counterparts start the meeting with these exact words: “We came here as partners and friends, how can we help?” Helping you is in our common interest. Throughout my mission, this has been my guiding star.

— Diplomacy is sometimes difficult to measure with KPIs or indices. Often, the main result of our work is prevented wars and saved lives. But in the case of Uzbekistan, it can be measured.

When I arrived here, bilateral trade stood at £275 million. The latest figure, as of the end of July 2026, reached £1.3 billion, and the volume during 2025 reached £2.1 billion. The bulk of this is due to gold purchases by the UK. Nevertheless, the volume of trade turnover has increased several times.

In conversations with thought leaders, ministers, and representatives of the Presidential Administration, I hear the same key point over and over again: about a million children are born in Uzbekistan every year, and a landlocked country is particularly in need of expanding trade and attracting investment. Today, Uzbekistan is transitioning to a modern, reformed market economy. Such a transformation takes time. At the same time, the country is striving to develop trade relations in all directions: north, south, east, and west. To achieve this goal, it needs reliable partners. Investment flows are entering Uzbekistan from China, the Gulf countries, and traditional partners are also investing here.

I ask myself: what is needed to support reforms? What will ensure stability? What will attract investment? What can Britain offer for mutually beneficial cooperation? Undoubtedly, this is access to capital markets in London. The London Stock Exchange, debt and equity capital, private finance, Islamic finance — these are all areas where we can help. I am told this often. And we are helping. In particular, in May of this year, we assisted in the placement of assets of the National Investment Fund of Uzbekistan (UzNIF). The government plans to place other state assets over the next few years. We want to be with you as part of this history.

— When David Cameron came to Uzbekistan as the then Foreign Secretary, he said something very clear and true: your democracy is only 8 years old, and today it is 10 years old. It took us more than 300 years for women to get the right to vote. And look how far you have come.

One of the areas I supported as much as I could was that shortly before or almost at the time of my arrival here, the president announced his intention to establish an international commercial court based on existing models in Dubai and Astana, but tailored specifically to Uzbekistan. Because this will help attract foreign direct investment.

The establishment of such a court was recently announced, and apparently, it will indeed be an independent court. This means that arbitration does not have to be held only in London, New York, the Gulf countries, or Astana — business will now come here as well. And this will help my successors in implementing one of the main tasks — attracting investment to Uzbekistan.

When I arrived here, very few British companies knew about Uzbekistan, but today there are many more. When they hear that you are on the verge of joining the WTO, learn about the reform agenda, or see GDP growing at more than 7 percent, they also ask:

“What guarantees are there for me in this unfamiliar market?”

An independent commercial court is precisely the answer to this question, attracting investors and making them feel much more confident in a new market for them.

Of course, there are areas where progress is slower, but the reasons for this are understandable, and I am not sure that many countries in the world could speed up this process. You have made significant progress in legislation on gender-based violence. However, in addition to all the efforts made by the state, a huge cultural shift must also take place in society.

Understanding what it is like to be a woman in our cultures is an issue that very few men in the world think about today. In our lives and in our society, women need more support and understanding from men. Unless women in our countries can be active participants in economic growth — as businesswomen, as ambassadors — we lose 50 percent of the workforce. For sustainable economic growth, we must all achieve the full inclusion of women.

Culturally, I was particularly struck by how Uzbekistan combines its Islamic traditions with openness, modernity, and respect for its multi-layered historical heritage.

A clear example of this is the new Center of Islamic Civilization in Tashkent. It tells the story of all layers of the country’s history, such as Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and the Bactrian Kingdom, while emphasizing the values that unite us: the pursuit of knowledge, love of science, and the unity of humanity. These ideas are most clearly embodied in the legacy of Mirzo Ulugbek, Ibn Sina, and al-Khwarizmi.

I think this is a truly inspiring model for the entire region. Against the backdrop of what is happening to your south, you present an open, inclusive, and modern Islamic society. In this sense, Uzbekistan can become a true guiding star for the region, and I highly appreciate this.

— Since then, our relations have become regular; ministerial visits continue. Even after my departure, visits by two or three ministers are planned. The head of the Presidential Administration has visited the UK twice. The President and the previous British Prime Minister met in Doha and Baku. In February, a meeting of Foreign Ministers in the “Central Asia + UK” format was held in London. The delay of some meetings was due to the constant change of our foreign secretaries.

Every time a new foreign secretary or a new prime minister takes office, we try to explain to them how important Uzbekistan and Central Asia are.

Before David Cameron, the head of the British Foreign Office had not been here since the time of Malcolm Rifkind in the late 1990s. Now, our ministers meet regularly. Minister Saidov met with James Cleverly, David Lammy, Yvette Cooper, and I am sure he will meet with Mr. Miliband soon. As far as I know, they are already corresponding. Ministers are traveling in both directions: Minister Kudratov signed an Action Plan on Deepening Economic Cooperation and a Memorandum of Understanding on critical minerals in London last year. Trade Envoy Lord Alderdice visited Tashkent, had an excellent meeting with the president, and stayed here for a week. Minister for Investment Lord Jason Stockwood came to the Tashkent International Investment Forum. His visit was quite symbolic.

In May 2024, I attended the third Tashkent International Investment Forum and saw a huge number of delegates from different countries. I thought: the world is coming here to meet Uzbekistan and Central Asia, we need to do better, we need a much more visible British presence.

Together with our Trade Director in Uzbekistan, Laurie Moorhead, and then her successor Nicholas, we attracted about 60 representatives of British business in 2025. This year’s delegation was led by Lord Stockwood. The CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, heads of the London Stock Exchange and UK Export Finance, and 250 British participants visited. In other words, Britain had a single offer for Uzbekistan: state, business, finance.

Photo: Presidential Press Service.

We held several sessions at the investment forum itself, had an excellent meeting with the president, the head of the Presidential Administration, and deputy prime ministers — Kuchkarov, Khodjayev, and others. Many more agreements were signed than before, and the desire to work together also increased. We agreed with the president that in the autumn, an Uzbek delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Khodjayev would visit the UK to move to the next stage and agree on new projects and roadmaps — to understand what else we can do together.

— For me, there are no limits in this matter. If we look at the international agenda regarding Uzbekistan in 2015, great attention was paid to human rights issues — in my opinion, rightfully so — and it was impossible to sign agreements on counter-terrorism operations. Now we are working with each other, we know each other. We sat down and talked through all the issues that you might worry about us or we about you, and established mutual trust.

In particular, we are cooperating with the Prosecutor General’s Office, including on professional development. The security services of the two sides are working much closer. Cooperation has also been established with the National Guard and the Ministry of Defense.

Previously, as I understand, we were only allowed to teach English, and that was it. Now: what do you want to do? Do you want to talk about drones? Do you want to talk about mountain warfare tactics? Now we can work together on these and other issues. Uzbekistan is recording excellent results in the Cambrian Patrol exercises in the UK, your military goes there to participate; they are great athletes and true professionals. But today, our relations are much broader than these exercises.

There are absolutely no problems in our joint activities. We have provided you with all the information we can about our system, you have provided as much information as you can about your system, and there is immense trust between us. This relationship is indeed very strong. I repeat over and over again, anyone can freely check my laptop — there is nothing there that would infringe upon your independence and territorial integrity. So, why does the British Ambassador care so much about Uzbekistan’s territorial integrity and independence? This can be viewed from a purely pragmatic point of view: we do not like large states expanding their sphere of influence and taking advantage of the vulnerability of others.

We are working together to ensure your borders are secure for decades to come. And your security is our security.

— Your independence is important to the UK. If a large state decides not to respect the territorial integrity of this region, this issue concerns us as much as it concerns you.

And we — whether through our status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, or through the economic growth and security cooperation we are establishing today — will do everything in our power to ensure you are in the best position, so that no one can ever take away your independence again. Because this would mean that the rules-based international system is eroding too much, which, from a pragmatic point of view, is of great importance to the UK.

On a personal level, almost any British diplomat or businessperson working in Uzbekistan will tell you: “You are good friends, and we want you to prosper.” Sincerely.

— One aspect of cooperation that I am personally very passionate about and that my system fully supports is achieving interaction at the leader level. The only thing that prevented this was the change of prime ministers and foreign secretaries in the UK. We have had five prime ministers in the last five years.

Therefore, the issue of readiness to hold a meeting at the leader level is indeed there.

This is exactly what I want to see, because I know how important this is for your system. In my system, too, it is important for our leaders to be in regular communication. I regret that I have not been able to ensure this so far.

Our new prime minister has just taken office, and I very much hope that from the very beginning of my successor’s activity, high-level meetings will finally begin.

I think this is the direction we need to move in. Both we and you want this, we see the benefit in it, and it must happen. When David Cameron came here two years ago, he was convinced of the need for the British Prime Minister and the President of Uzbekistan to meet regularly, including in the “Central Asia + UK” format, bilaterally, and at the summit level. There is only one thing — we had frequent changes of government. But I think if there is stability, we will finally fill this last gap.

— We really like your multi-vector foreign policy and the fact that you have different partners in different directions. We consider this a very pragmatic and wise approach. We know that you have comprehensive cooperative ties — we understand, accept, and support this.

You are a beacon of independence for Central Asia. Previously, before the current president, when you did not focus so much on regional integration, Central Asia was divided, and as a result, everyone was weaker. Kazakhstan was largely self-sufficient due to oil and gas. But under President Mirziyoyev, relations were established with all countries of Central Asia, and now Baku is joining this. You are developing a regional identity, and it is truly powerful. And this interconnectedness helps finance your growth and gives you access to markets.

The railway to China through Kyrgyzstan will change the entire massive East-West supply route for future generations. The Trans-Caspian route will perform the same function. Focusing on renewable energy, joint electricity generation, interconnectedness, and water supply is turning what could have been a major source of conflict into a source of strength.

You are uniting just like the European Community in the late 1950s. The economic growth resulting from this is amazing. Therefore, supporting this process — whether through our own direct programs or through our assistance via the UN and international financial institutions — is very pleasant. It is great to be here and support this.

— As with any other issue, I can answer this question based on my own views, but it is more correct to ask the region itself what it wants. In which areas does the region want the UK and countries like us to be actively involved?

What is the British expertise? In which areas can we help? We have vast experience in design. If we talk about regional connectivity and the Trans-Caspian route, how can British expertise help you in designing roads, border crossings, and everything else? We have an excellent financial offer for the region. For Uzbekistan alone, there is £4 billion in export finance. And tens of billions of dollars have been allocated for the five countries of Central Asia and Azerbaijan. This is a very serious effort. In addition, we are members of the boards of most international financial institutions; if something is not working properly, you can talk to us, and we will help. We reached an agreement on WTO accession a long time ago and are a key supporter in this matter.

Uzbekistan’s aspiration to become a transport and aviation hub is obvious. How can Britain help in this regard? We have a world leader in aviation — Rolls Royce, which developed the Trent 1000 engine, the most economical and efficient in the world. This engine has no competitors. The company invested £2 billion in research and development to take it from the first stage, which had problems, to the third stage, which outperforms any competitor. You get a better engine, you buy it at a lower price, it lasts longer, and when its service life ends, you can sell it for much more. Moreover, over its service life, it allows saving tens of millions of dollars in fuel compared to its closest competitor. This is just one small example of the areas where we can help.

To have funds to finance the huge growth that the region will experience, what IPOs of state-owned enterprises will be held, and how can we become part of this process? How can we help with climate change adaptation? We have great experience in this area. We do not compete with China in supplying solar panels, but we can help design these grids. As for wind energy, we are far ahead in this field. Small modular reactors — in this area of nuclear energy, which ensures the stability of your energy system during the transition to renewable energy sources, we are world-class. In other words, there is huge potential for cooperation here and across the region.

For me, one of the biggest questions is: are you the “Central Asia Five” or the “Central Asia Six”? We do not decide this. Whatever format you present, we will work in that format.

On September 14, the International Institute of Central Asia will host a whole group of British think tanks, including RUSI, Chatham House, and others, to talk about precisely this — the interconnectedness and future of Central Asia. How can we bring our advanced thinkers, our best strategists, to help you plan, exchange ideas, and test them?

We could do even more together, but in this process, I want the region itself to guide us. One of the topics I would mention is agriculture. We have regenerative farming — Regenerative Agriculture programs. You can use one-third less water in your backyard or any other plot of land. You will still get the same harvest and use no industrial fertilizers. This means an ordinary farmer will not depend on world oil prices for fertilizer. Water consumption is reduced by a third, costs drop sharply, dependence on world oil prices disappears — and the harvest remains the same. The condition of the soil also improves. We have examples of pilot projects in Kyrgyzstan.

— In my opinion, listing on the London Stock Exchange alone is not enough. But it is a very important signal. We mentioned the International Commercial Court above, and I sincerely believe that such institutions help strengthen investor confidence.

The UzNIF listing was a moment everyone held their breath for. Will they make it or not? Will large international investors and hedge funds look at Uzbekistan and say, “We know nothing about this country”? Or will they say, “There is stability here, reforms are underway, risks still exist, but it is worth investing”? I think the market has already given its answer.

At the same time, large investments do not come just because of one successful placement. We can help in the area of state-to-state cooperation: we can work with the Agency for Strategic Reforms, support public administration reforms, and provide British expertise in law, regulation, strategic communications, and other areas. If the right foundation is laid, then the market itself will come. And that is where the real big money is.

It is also important to me that our relations have long moved beyond the “donor-recipient” model. This must be a true partnership. Of course, every country acts in its own national interest. The UK is no exception. However, sustainable relations only work if both sides win. If we want to establish a strategic partnership rather than just concluding some deals, trust is necessary. Investment decisions lie precisely at the heart of trust.

Therefore, UzNIF is not only important in itself. I hope it helped build an environment of trust for the future placement of Uzbekistan’s assets. Uzbekistan itself will decide exactly where to hold the next placements. But, of course, considering the returns you will get and how this signals the maturity of the Uzbek market to international investors, I think London is a very good platform.

You cannot enter a platform like the London Stock Exchange without demonstrating a certain level of transparency, corporate governance, and compliance with ESG standards. The very placement of assets in this way signals to the global investment community that Uzbekistan is open for business and ready to work by international rules.

Therefore, I would say it is not just about the stock exchange. It is about the rule of law, the quality of institutions, the predictability of reforms, and investor confidence. Looking at the dynamics of recent years, it seems to me that Uzbekistan is gradually moving away from the perception of being a “frontier market” and is consolidating its position as a serious investment destination.

— I will return to what I said two years ago: we want people to gain good experience in the UK. This is beneficial for us — we know we need help with fruit harvesting, we need help in our enterprises. At the same time, we want to make sure that Uzbeks coming to Britain indeed gain a positive experience and return home with funds. So that they can invest in business in their own country.

We do not set the number of workers; the private sector decides this. If the deputy prime minister came to me and said, “We need 20,000 seasonal workers in the UK,” I would have to reply, “I cannot provide this, you will have to agree with the companies yourself.” But we are working on this: we helped fund the International Organization for Migration and are cooperating with the Migration Agency. Our goal is to ensure that Uzbeks going to the UK are indeed well-prepared: understand cultural differences, understand how to manage the money they earn, and know whom to contact and when if problems arise.

The British Home Office has clear standards regarding visa violations, and if they are exceeded, the program can be suspended. Throughout my time working here, Uzbekistan has always complied with these standards. Once we came close to the limit, but we resolved the issue quite quickly. This also shows that Uzbeks going to the UK are having a positive experience, while at the same time seeing the benefit of returning to Uzbekistan and investing. This is a win-win for everyone.

At the same time, we see how much you are diversifying the countries your labor migrants are heading to. Meanwhile, the volume of remittances from the UK increased by 62 percent [in the first half of the year] — it is very pleasing to see this.

Whether they are seasonal workers, students, or entrepreneurs — this is the strength of people-to-people ties. I see how all of this has developed over the last three years. This is not my credit; the task of my colleagues and me is to create a broader foundation and help establish relations. We spot opportunities and bring them together.

— For me, all of this comes down to people-to-people ties.

As ambassador, I help establish these ties, but I have been lucky in this regard. These ties began to form long before my arrival, with the opening of Westminster International University. Today, there are about twenty cooperative programs with British universities in Uzbekistan. Last year, 15,000 people studied here under British higher education programs, compared to 10,000 the year before. I would not be surprised if their number exceeds 20,000 this year.

Cambridge University Press is providing textbooks to millions of Uzbeks. This is not just about the English language or a British degree. The most important thing here is critical thinking and the skills needed for the economy of the future. They help young people see opportunities in artificial intelligence, financial services, strategically important minerals, and other areas. In essence, you are raising a new generation of specialists and entrepreneurs who can give a serious boost to the economy. Being part of this process and actively supporting it is indeed a pleasure.

If I take anything away with me from this mission, it is that we have done more together in the field of education. Because this is not only for today or tomorrow, but also for your children and grandchildren. This is also beneficial for the UK, as we now understand each other much better.

If we add to this list the students going to study in the UK, today about 1,500 Uzbeks are studying in British higher education institutions. Many of them study at their own expense, while some are recipients of the “El-Yurt Umidi” Foundation or Chevening scholarships. Our cooperation with the foundation has been developing over the last few years. Last year, we were the number one destination for your scholars; this year we are in first place again. Recently, out of 210 people who went abroad under the “El-Yurt Umidi” program, 104 are going to the UK. We and the British Council helped the foundation establish ties with British universities. This allows you to negotiate good terms with universities and send even more scholars to study in the UK.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the British Council’s activity in Uzbekistan, and its CEO will visit to celebrate this date. This is a good reason to pause for a moment and look at our relations as a whole. Where are we heading? I hope that the existing ties, which I have supported together with my team and the British Council for three years, will only grow stronger in the future. If we are talking about 20,000 Uzbeks receiving higher education, let’s increase this number every year; if we can double it in a year or two, that would be great. If we can expand transnational education and bring more British universities here — very good. If we can provide skills and knowledge to make Uzbekistan a broader regional education hub — excellent.

It was wonderful to see the opening of the Oxford hub or Cambridge University Press having various ties here. But there are still many British universities that are not here yet. Twenty universities are participating in various partnerships — let’s expand this work. Let’s see what you need. What gaps are there in your education system that British expertise can fill? At the same time, you are also doing a lot of innovative work — so what can we learn from this cooperation?

I hope that in the future this relationship will become more balanced, because currently a significant part of knowledge and expertise comes here from the UK. I sincerely hope for an increase in academic exchanges, student flows in both directions, in particular, more British students coming here. One example I saw: for the first time, Uzbek and Chagatai languages began to be taught at Oxford. Let there be more such initiatives, and let interest in Uzbekistan grow.

— Firstly, it gives me pleasure to see our achievements in the field of education: whether it is the rapid acquisition of the English language or other things we talked about. It was an honor for me to be a partner on this path and support this sector.

Secondly, our joint work on supporting the reform agenda and the business environment. It is important that we assist in your development, but your economic growth can be truly accelerated through the private sector. Therefore, whether it is establishing an international commercial court, joining the WTO, or supporting the Delivery Unit at the Agency for Strategic Reforms, helping you within broader public administration programs and learning from you in the process is a real win. From my arrival here three years ago to today, I have witnessed British business becoming much more aware of the opportunities in Uzbekistan. I hope my successor will increase this indicator several times, because there is still much work to be done.

Within the first two weeks of my arrival here, the Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Exports Lord Offord visited. At that time, we discussed how to reach one billion dollars in exports or bilateral trade by 2030. And I thought: that is too little. We have already conquered this milestone. In my opinion, the goals should be much higher. I am both grateful and proud that the volume of exports and bilateral trade grew during my tenure. At the same time, I look forward to this figure becoming even larger. Two billion does not seem enough for the scale of our economies. So, what should this figure be? What is the right number? I don’t know, but I think we should aim for much bolder and grander goals.

In my personal life, this was indeed a wonderful period. Our family lived in Uzbekistan for three years, and time flew by in the blink of an eye. Even this is not enough. We love this country. My daughters went to school here. Although we could not travel as much as we wanted, we still saw many places. We will definitely return here, because this hospitality and cooperation are genuine, and this will continue in the future.

And one more thing. When I speak with people who know little about Uzbekistan, if I want them to remember at least one thing about the country’s progress, I cite the extreme poverty statistics. In 2017, this figure stood at 35 percent of the population, and now it is close to four percent. This means that under President Mirziyoyev, 7.5–8 million people have risen out of poverty. Seeing the pace of your country’s development has been the most positive aspect of my work here. This does not mean everything is perfect. There is no such thing as perfection; in my country, too, not everything is as it should be. However, the desire to improve the life of every citizen of this country and see a much better future is clearly felt.