JAHON IQTISODIYOTI VA DIPLOMATIYA UNIVERSITETI

Their core work

The University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent is Uzbekistan's leading institution for international economics, trade policy, and diplomatic studies. Within EU-funded research, it contributes regional expertise on Central Asian economies, informal business practices, and EU-Central Asia policy relations. The university serves as a key knowledge bridge between European researchers and the post-Soviet Central Asian region, providing on-the-ground understanding of local economic dynamics, shadow economies, and barriers to market entry across Uzbekistan and neighboring countries.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their earliest involvement (SEnECA, 2018) focused on high-level EU-Central Asia diplomatic relations and policy networking across all five Central Asian republics. By 2018-2019, their focus shifted decisively toward understanding informal economies, shadow business practices, and market entry barriers in post-Soviet states — a more granular, economics-driven research agenda. This evolution suggests a move from broad diplomatic framing toward applied economic research on how business actually works in the region.

Moving from policy-level diplomacy research toward applied analysis of informal business practices and market access barriers in post-Soviet economies — increasingly relevant for companies seeking to enter Central Asian markets.

How they like to work

This university has never coordinated an H2020 project, participating once as a direct partner and twice as a third party — a typical profile for non-EU institutions contributing regional expertise to European-led consortia. With 28 unique consortium partners across 20 countries, they are well-networked relative to their small project count, suggesting they join large, geographically diverse teams. Their value to consortia is clearly as a regional specialist providing Central Asian ground truth rather than as a project driver.

Despite only three projects, they have connected with 28 partners across 20 countries — indicating participation in large, multi-country consortia with broad European and post-Soviet geographic coverage.

What sets them apart

As one of very few Uzbek institutions in H2020, this university offers something most European partners cannot: direct, on-the-ground expertise in Central Asian economic realities, informal business networks, and post-Soviet institutional dynamics. For any consortium studying trade with Central Asia, market entry barriers, or EU foreign policy in the region, they are an essential local knowledge partner. Their diplomatic training background also adds credibility in policy-oriented projects targeting Central Asian governments.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SEnECA
  Directly addressed EU-Central Asia relations across all five republics, positioning the university as a regional policy interlocutor with EUR 65K in direct EC funding.
• SHADOW
  Five-year MSCA-RISE project exploring shadow economies across the entire post-Soviet space — a rare deep-dive into informality that spans Central Asia, Caucasus, and Russia.