This document reports on the National Dialogue on Water (hereafter referred to as ‘the Dialogue’) in the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbekistan), which took place over 2 years (2024-2025). Insights have been incorporated from literature reviews, expert interviews with private stakeholders, consultation workshops, focus group discussions and an assessment of the enabling environment for investment in water security based on a methodology developed by the OECD and the Asian Development Bank (“Scorecard assessment”). The final version was revised following a Policy Dialogue event, which took place in-country in Uzbekistan on 11 December 2024, with comments and inputs received from stakeholders in 2025.
This report is an output of the OECD Environment Policy Committee (EPOC) and its Working Party on Biodiversity, Water and Ecosystems (WPBWE). The report was authored by Delia Sanchez Trancon and Naina Mangtani, under the supervision of Sophie Trémolet in the Climate Biodiversity and Water (CBW) Division, OECD Environment Directorate, in collaboration with Takayoshi Kato and Matthew Griffiths from the Water Management, Economics and Finance team in the Finance, Investment and Global Relations (FIG) Division, OECD Environment Directorate. The work was conducted under the overall supervision of Walid Oueslati, Head of the Climate, Biodiversity and Water Division of the OECD Environment Directorate. The chapter on “Technologies for Water Efficiencies” was written by Jaejin Han, Minseok Choi, Jihun Byun and Sangwook Lim of Asia Water Council (AWC) and conducted under the general supervision of Yongdeok Cho, AWC Secretary General.
The authors would like to extend warm thanks to the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan for their support and leadership throughout the duration of this project, and particularly to the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and Ministry of Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan, for their support in conducting this dialogue. The authors’ gratitude is also extended to Dinara Ziganshina and the team at the Scientific-Information Center of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination of Central Asia (SIC ICWC) for expertise in water related matters and the invaluable support provided throughout the duration of this project.
The Policy Dialogue on Water in Uzbekistan has benefitted from the strong engagement and collaboration between the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Uzbekistan, the Asia Water Council (AWC), and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It has received financial support from the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment of Korea. This study was also conducted with financial support from Germany’s International Climate Initiative (IKI) through the project “Regional mechanisms for the low-carbon, climate-resilient transformation of the energy-water-land nexus in Central Asia”, a consortium led by the OECD in collaboration with the Scientific Information Centre of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination of Central Asia (SIC ICWC), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). All financial support received is gratefully acknowledged.