Ambassador of Uzbekistan Sodyq Safaev Uzbekistan Aiming for ëTop Tierí by Tim Deady Where were the theories of algebra created? Where was the family that developed the Taj Mahal from? Where is 50 percent of the population under 19 years of age and the average age is less than 24? Any guesses? If not, one more question. What country is celebrating its 10th birthday and has had a smooth transition to independence from the former Soviet Union? Uzbekistan. Talking up these points and trying to win respect for and to educate North America about Uzbekistan is Sodyq Safaev, who is accredited as ambassador to both the United States and Canada. Sit down with the ambassador, who is an economist by trade, and heíll quickly recite the attributes of his country, which he says is trying to join the ìtop tierî of nations. Safaev, one of the fewómaybe the onlyóambassador bachelors in Washing ton, readily acknowledges that he is a key player in that mission. But he admits itís a difficult task. There are many frustrations, such as the general lack of knowledge about Uzbekistan and the negative preconceived notions about newly independent countries that were once part of the Soviet Union empire. One of his greatest challenges, he says, is to educate Westerners about the richness of his homelandís culture, history and national resources. ìThereís always such a huge need to open up my country here,î says Safaev. Itís not the [fault] of the people here that my country was closed for almost a century because it was part of another country. But when I tell them I am the ambassador from Uzbekistan they ask me to repeat the name. They can barely recognize my country or locate my country. ìItís understandable but at the same time its a little bit different from, say, being the ambassador from Germany or India,î he says. Perhaps his most important role, he says, is to ìintroduceî Uzbekistan to Americans and bring it to the prominence he says it deserves. ìIt may be the most important task I have as an ambassador from a newly emerged nationóto introduce my country to the people of the United States, to be recognized, to be kind of well known,î says Safaev. But there are other issues as well, such as international terrorism and economic development. In September of last year, the United States declared the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan an international terrorist group, which is akin to being placed on the FBIís list of the 10 most-wanted criminals in the United States The leader of the group, Tohir Yuldashev, has declared a ìholy warî against the democratic Uzbekistan government, led by President Islam Karimov. Karimov has been president of Uzbekistan since its inception in 1991 and in January 2000 was overwhelmingly elected to the presidency in the countryís first democratic elections. Last year former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Uzbekistan, and a primary topic of discussions was the IMU, which is suspected of having ties to international terrorist Usama bin Laden. ìWere convinced that there are at least three spheres of influence in which we feel the strategic or national interests of our countries coincide,î says Safaev. Those areas are terrorism, drug trafficking and the rise of radical religious, political and cultural fundamentalism. These worldwide problems are all linked and must be overcome, says Safaev. ìToday itís obvious that the center of international terrorism has shifted from the Middle East to South Asia and closer to Central Asia. Also, today Central Asia has become a transit center for drugs that are produced in Afghanistan,î says Safaev. He notes 90 percent of illegal drugs that make it to Europe go through central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan. He says this should concern the United States because drug trafficking has become a ìglobalî enterprise. As ambassador, Safaev says he is trying to persuade U.S. officials to help Uzbekistan combat terrorism and drug trafficking. Last year, on her visit, Albright pledged $3 million to help train Uzbekistan military and police authorities to combat terrorism and drug trafficking. Safaev says he is working to get more U.S. aid but he declines to reveal specifics. Uzbekistan is a landlocked, mostly flat, dry country in Central Asia with 23 million people. It is slightly bigger than California, and its main source of economic output is agriculture, chiefly cotton. But, it has vast reserves of gold, oil and natural gas and it is primarily through those economic sectors that Uzbekistan is promoting economic development from foreign investment. ìThere is nothing more important today than economic development. Those embassies that give economic development top priority are the ones who will win because there is nothing more important to peace and prosperity. It is absolutely imperative that we strive for this,î says the ambassador. Last year there was $1 billion in foreign investment in Uzbekistan, up from less than $300 million in 1997. Uzbekistan is trying to increase foreign investment substantially with an incentive package for companies that invest $50 million or more that includes a tax exemption for the first seven years of operation in Uzbekistan. Safaev says he meets regularly with the business and financial communities to try to get them to invest in Uzbekistan, but he admits it has been difficult. The conversion to a pure market economy takes time and there have been problems, such as establishment of a solid banking system, says Safaev. He notes there have been other problems as well, including a looming environmental catastrophe at the Aral Sea in the northwest part of the country. The huge body of water is shrinking because a drainage system developed by the Soviet Union is siphoning off water from the sea. ìIím trying to alert people to this because itís causing serious problems,î says Safaev. Among those who Safaev has talked to about the Aral Sea situation is President George Bush, who the ambassador met with in 1997 while he was still governor of Texas. Unlike the transition from socialism to capitalism in some former Soviet countries, the movement toward democracy in Uzbekistan has gone fairly smoothly. Safaev, who is 46 and grew up and was educated under the Soviet political and economic system, says there are two primary reasons for the relatively smooth transition. First, he says Uzbekistan has a homogeneous population where 90 percent of the people are of the same religious and ethnic backgroundsóMuslim Uzbeks. In addition, he says there was a strong and deep desire of the people to convert to a democratic and capitalist form of government. This desire for democracy and a free market economy went back many years, says Safaev. When he was growing up in Tashkent, Uzbekistanís capital, Safaev says he remembers his family and friends talking about one day being independent and free. Though his father was an attorney and his mother a physician, Safaev says his family was not a member of the elite class under the former Soviet Union. ìWe didnít have much more than anyone else. You have to remember this was the Soviet Union where everyone was supposed to be the same,î says Safaev. He was educated at Tashkent University, where Safaev studied economics and received a doctorate. In the late 1980s, as a member of the Communist Party, he taught economics at Tashkent University. In 1990, he was a visiting scholar at Harvard University where he wrote about transforming a socialist economy into a market economy. After Uzbekistan became independent, Safaev, who by then had renounced his Communist Party membership, joined the new government under President Karimov. In early 1993, he was named foreign minister and later that year ambassador to Germany. In addition to his native Uzbek, Safaev speaks Russian and German, as well as fluent but heavily accented English. At a recent interview in the Uzbekistan Embassy, Safaev talked about his embassy and his country. He is clearly proud of the embassy itself, which is on Massachusetts Avenue NW, Embassy Row. Uzbekistan bought the building, which formerly housed the Canadian Embassy, for $5 million in 1996. Another $2 million was spent on renovations, which were supervised by the ambassador. ìThis building here in Washington is such an asset. We donít believe in being closed off. We are probably one of the most open embassies in Washington. We believe in having an open door, so people can come in and see our country,î says Safaev, noting that several times a year the embassy is open to the public to view its art works. The ambassador, recalling his meeting with then-Gov. Bush, says he was impressed with the presidentís grasp of facts. ìHe was able to talk with a great deal of knowledge and without any notes,î says Safaev. The ambassador met with Bush to talk mainly about trade and foreign investment in Uzbekistan. He says Uzbekistan had good relations with the Clinton administration ìbut weíre hoping that there is more interest in Central Asiaî by the new administration. As for his own future, Safaev notes five years is a long time for an ambassador to serve in Washington. He gave no indication he would soon leave his post, but Safaev looks back fondly to his days as a university professor and says he considers himself more an academic than a diplomat or government official. ìThey were the best days of my life,î he says. Tim Deady is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.