DEPUTY HOKIM OF UZBEKISTAN'S KHOREZM PROVINCE:

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TASHKENT 001998 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017 TAGS: PINR PGOV ECON ECIN EAGR PTER SOCI UZ SUBJECT: DEPUTY HOKIM OF UZBEKISTAN'S KHOREZM PROVINCE: THINGS JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER Classified By: POLOFF STEVEN PROHASKA FOR REASONS 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (U) Summary: On November 5, Poloff met with Usmonboy Jumagaldiyev, the Deputy Hokim (Deputy Governor) for Economic and Public Development Issues in Uzbekistan's Khorezm province. He painted a very rosy picture of economic development and political stability in Khorezm. While some of his claims do appear credible, discussions with residents of the province suggest that conditions in Khorezm may not be as perfect as the Deputy Hokim suggests. Jumagaldiyev stated that the province's economy was growing rapidly, the people of Khorezm wanted President Karimov to remain in office, and there were no problems with terrorism or extremism. He also noted that Khorezm would be interested in agricultural and construction cooperation with the United States. The Deputy Hokim was hospitable and generally helpful in arranging additional meetings corresponding to Poloff's stated interests (septel to follow). End summary. ¶2. (C) Poloff met with Usmonboy Jumagaldiyev, the Deputy Hokim (Deputy Governor) for Economic and Public Development Issues of Khorezm province, on November 5 for discussions on a wide range of socioeconomic, political, and security topics. Jumagaldiyev is serving his second year as Deputy Hokim, and along with two other deputies in the hokimiyat (provincial administration) shares the responsibilities related to construction, agriculture, and women's issues. President Karimov appointed the Hokim, who has served a surprisingly long seven years, and who in turn appointed the Deputy Hokims. Socioeconomic Conditions in Khorezm -------------- ¶3. (C) Jumagaldiyev stated that Khorezm's economic situation is improving and growth has been rapid. He attributed this, in part, to investment and assistance from many countries including Germany, France, Austria, and China as well as the Asian Development Bank. He noted that the most important sectors of Khorezm's economy include tourism, agriculture, and textiles. The tourism sector has been doing especially well. During one nine-month timeframe in 2006, there were 20,000 tourists. This year during the same timeframe the figure had more than doubled to 42,000 tourists, mainly from France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, and Korea. (Comment: a teacher and part-time driver also later corroborated that tourism to Khorezm increased dramatically this year and that France, Germany, and Japan were especially well-represented. Popular tourist areas in Khiva also record the nationalities of visitors. End comment.) Jumagaldiyev said that Urgench has a special Tourism College with some 500 students geared toward tourism and teaching the English language. Circulation of soum, he said, was not a problem in the province; they have enough. ¶4. (C) Jumagaldiyev also discussed the state of education in the province, noting that literacy in the province was rising. Some Khorezm students take advantage of opportunities to study abroad in Europe or the United States, he said. Jumagaldiev noted that English language is especially popular--even more so than Russian--among students in the province. Khorezm students generally study three languages--Uzbek, Russian, and English--in school, he said. ¶5. (C) He also stated that Khorezm had "already fulfilled the plan" with respect to the cotton harvest. The cotton yield had been roughly the same as the yield last year, and between 200,000 and 220,000 people took part in the harvest. Jumagaldiyev noted that cotton was their main export and that Europe purchased the bulk of it. Students in the province used to gather cotton, but this is no longer the case, he claimed. Having students gather cotton was especially prevalent under the Soviet Union and continued up until five or six years ago. Poloff spoke separately with a resident of Urgench and an American researcher at the University of Urgench, who stated, respectively, that children as young as 12 years of age still picked cotton and that university students had picked about 7,000 tons of cotton in one month this year. TASHKENT 00001998 002 OF 003 ¶6. (C) Jumagaldiyev acknowledged that prices were rising. "It's a market economy. Prices are increasing, but wages are increasing too," he said. But he stressed that the increase had not been dramatic, and prices were still good. Goods at the bazaar were not very expensive. Prices for agricultural goods in particular had increased only slightly, and a kilogram of carrots could be purchased for 70 soum. A resident of Urgench complained about local prices, however, remarking to Poloff that in 2000, petrol had been cheaper than water. Now petrol was five times as expensive as water. He also said that in 2000, one kilogram of meat cost about 15 cents, but now the price was four dollars. ¶7. (C) Jumagaldiyev said that health was a big priority for the province and admitted that some of Khorezm's health problems were connected to the region's ecological problems. He claimed that lifespans were increasing, with the average at around 70 years in Khorezm. Khorezm has enough hospitals and equipment, and the province has ten medical colleges or institutes. Poloff later visited a recently-opened Urological Center, a Children's Hospital, and a Maternity Center in Urgench, which included some rooms with modern equipment such as X-rays and computers with flat screen monitors. The Presidential Election: Karimov Too Legit to Quit? -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Deputy Hokim Jumagaldiyev indicated that President Karimov was popular in Khorezm, and the people want him to remain in office. He estimated that there would be roughly 80 percent voter turnout in the province. Poloff spoke with several other residents of Urgench and Khiva about their views and the general public's views of Karimov, receiving responses that ranged from "I don't know" and "We cannot talk about this," to laudatory remarks about Karimov's construction record. One resident noted that he was concerned that if a new president were elected, he would try to steal more money from the people than Karimov had, and that at least Karimov was now "already full"--a view that Poloff has also heard in Tashkent. (Comment: The popular notion that every hokim has about two years to "feed" obviously reinforces perceptions of the presidency as well. End comment.) Jumagaldiyev refused to comment on public views toward any of the candidates that had been unofficially nominated or differences in the candidates' platforms, insisting that the six candidates would be announced later in the month. Jumagaldiyev also noted that Karimov visits the province about once a year. No Terrorism or Extremism Concerns Here -------------- ¶9. (C) Jumagaldiyev said that there was no terrorism or extremism in the province. Everything was calm. "It's the most stable province in Uzbekistan," he said, smiling. He added that there were almost no problems related to terrorism or extremism in Khorezm or the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The Deputy Chairman of Karakalpakstan's Council of Ministers also said this during a later discussion with Poloff, septel. Border security was not a problem either, and Jumagaldiev claimed that waits to cross the border between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were short. (Comment: As recently as 2002, the main mosque in Khiva had photos/wanted posters of 69 local men who had joined the IMU. Embassy contacts claimed that IMU recruiting was heavy in the 1990s in Khorezm. End comment.) Interest in Cooperation with the United States -------------- - ¶10. (C) The Deputy Hokim said that he was open to cooperation with the United States in all areas. He appeared to be particularly interested in agricultural and construction cooperation. Jumagaldiyev spoke favorably about the quality of American technology and vehicles, saying that these were popular in Khorezm. He also expressed interest in exposure to more advanced methods of cotton harvesting. Assistance with Additional Meetings TASHKENT 00001998 003 OF 003 -------------- ¶11. (C) As the meeting drew to a close, Jumagaldiyev stood and gestured out of the window at a square with a statue of al-Khorezmi--a mathematician born in Khiva in the 8th century--encircled by several brand-new buildings. Construction workers were still working on some parts of the square. "All of this was built in three months," he remarked proudly. He then pulled out a sheet of paper with correspondence from what appeared to be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and listed a few of the topics Poloff had told MFA he was interested in. Jumagaldiyev promised to facilitate meetings for Poloff and said that a man named Kamil would accompany him to all his meetings. Comment: -------------- ¶12. (C) Jumagaldiyev was willing to answer almost every question Poloff asked him. While some of his claims do appear credible, other comments sometimes contrasted with statements from other locals in the province. It is interesting that Jumagaldiyev readily responded to Poloff's inquiry about which areas in bilateral cooperation the province would be interested in without consulting with more senior officials--under the Uzbek system, he would have to have inquired about this beforehand or will have to inquire before moving forward on cooperation. ¶13. (C) This is the second MFA-organized trip taken by a P/E officer since the GOU began officially restricting the scope of Embassy contact work and travel. NORLAND