Source
ArepaConMate•

(x)

Show me it's not a Russian/Mexican style privatization and I might get excited. This part:

But Mr Mirziyoyev has allowed farmers in designated areas to sell their cotton directly to private enterprises, at a mutually agreed price—although the farmers still have little bargaining power, notes Yuliy Yusupov, a local economist. The plan is to eliminate all the quotas and state purchases by 2023, leaving the industry in the hands of the private sector.

doesn't sound too exciting.

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MDFificationOP:locke: John Locke•

Even if it winds up in the hands of oligarchs, privatizing the cotton industry will end the quota system (and the forced labour that goes with it). It'll also be good for the environment - farmers will no longer be forced to plant cotton even if it's unprofitable (as they currently are) lessening Uzbekistan's water deficit.

16
MessageToObserver•

privatizing the cotton industry will end the quota system (and the forced labour that goes with it)

How do you know?

Uzbekistan would hardly be the first Central Asian dictatorship to deploy state force for oligarchical private interests that also fund the state.

19
[deleted]•

It’s good they are doing this but let’s be honest. This isn’t a huge step for eradicating forced labor worldwide. There’s still forced labor even in the US. And it just so happens to be mostly in agriculture too.

4
DistantEarlyWarning_•

Mirziyoyev isn’t great at all but he’s a definite improvement over Karimov.

He seems to be trying to emulate Deng Xiaoping in China, whereas Karimov seemed perfectly happy to stay isolated and totalitarian.

I hope Mirziyoyev’s slow and steady opening up of Uzbekistan leads to greater democracy going forward.

1