UNDP supported project “Improving Public Sector Management Skills through Building Training and Research Capacity of the Academy for State and Social Construction under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan” partnered with Regional Fund “Policy”, Central Asia Programme University of Giessen and Information Centre of DAAD Tashkent organized the workshop “Good Regional Cooperation and Central Asia” in Tashkent on 22-23 February 2008.

Over 70 representatives of educational establishments of Uzbekistan, Germany, China, and Russia participated in the event, which considered the practices of good regional cooperation, experiences of various regions and ideas for establishing regional cooperation in the Central Asian region. Main target group of the workshop were students of faculty on “International Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations” of the Academy for State and Social Construction.

Central Asia is home to about 60 million people. Located at the center of the Eurasia, the countries of the region are today on focus of intense international attention because of their geopolitical and economic importance, their natural and human resources, their transit potential for transcontinental trade and transport, and their unsettled political situation.

At the same time, given its landlocked geography, Central Asia is heavily dependent on its immediate neighbours and the international community for access to the rest of the world, for its security, and for support for its economic and social development.

In 2005, UNDP launched Central Asia Human Development Report dedicated to regional cooperation, which said the Central Asian states could as much as double their incomes over the next 10 years by strengthening regional economic cooperation.

Prof. Dr. Reimund Seidelmann, representative of the University of Giessen (Germany), said Germany can help through sharing its experience in international cooperation in order to assist Uzbekistan to determine its own development and avoid mistakes.

Mr Matthias Meyer, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Uzbekistan, said the event serves as good opportunity to discuss issues of regional cooperation and determine common interests. He said that the common interests can boost regional cooperation.

The joint project of the Academy of State and Social Construction under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and UNDP “Improving Public Sector Management Skills through Building Training and Research Capacity of the State Academy for State and Public Construction under the President of Uzbekistan” is aimed at enhancing capacity of the ASSC to advance public sector management skills to support the development and effective implementation of the public policy in Uzbekistan.