President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev was awarded the award of the U. S.-based StrategEast Center for social and economic reforms in Uzbekistan.

This was announced at the presentation of the StrategEast Westernization Report 2019, which took place at the British Parliament on February 28. The event was attended by parliamentarians, representatives of the analytical community and international media.

President Mirziyoyev was nominated for a StrategEast Westernization Award 2018 for liberalizing the economy, improving the investment climate, and adhering to the principles of the rule of law and protecting private property in Uzbekistan. In addition, the contribution of President Mirziyoyev to the resolution of border conflicts and strengthening the relations with neighboring countries was noted.

The StrategEast Westernization Award is awarded annually for a significant contribution to the modernization of post-Soviet countries, as well as for a contribution to the development of the economic, social and cultural life of the countries of the region.

Other nominees are the Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger (in the category “Political Westernization”, for the rapprochement between the West and post-Soviet region), technology entrepreneur and venture investor Viktor Prokopenya (in the category “Legal Westernization”, for contributing to the creation of a legislative framework for the development of IT industry in Belarus), Chief Executive Officer of Ryanair Michael O’Leary (in the category “Westernization of Lifestyle”, for establishing direct air services between Ukraine and Central and Western Europe), Director of Akhmet Baitursynov Institute of Linguistics in Kazakhstan Erden Kazhybek (in the category “Language and Cultural Westernization”, for his contribution to the latinization of Kazakh alphabet) and former President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves (in the category “Lifetime Achievement” , for the digitalization of the Estonian economy).