Paper short abstract:

This paper aims at investigating the evolving state policies that characterized the process of structural transformation in Uzbekistan's transition.

Paper long abstract:

This article offers an empirical and theoretical understanding of how state intervention can shape the pace and trajectory of transition through interventions in strategic industrial sectors. Although GDP growth in Uzbekistan has been high for sustained periods, while agriculture's share of GDP has fallen, upgrading, starting in the agricultural sector, has boosted structural transformation. Triangulating primary and secondary data, this article puts forward an analysis of organisational upgrading in Uzbekistan . It illustrates how fiscal, financial, innovation and trade policies have contributed to intra-sectorial transformation. It argues that the state has had a crucial role as a market regulator and an active economic agent in the coordination of multi-dimensional social and economic objectives, synchronising commercial linkages and financial partnerships with international actors to avoid predatory competition.