By Inese Kalnina, assistant professor at the University of Latvia
I would like to share my personal feelings and experiences about the research stages that I carried out at the Academy in Uzbekistan.
My experience was awe-inspiring, thanks to the fantastic Academy staff. I spent almost five months at the Academy. And since the beginning, I have been included in an excellent research team. I adapted to a new set of colleagues and working practices and culture. I met great colleagues such as Shahnoza Zufarova, Durbek Turahonov, Dilaver Khamzaev, and others. They helped me to go through research difficulties and reach my research goals. They organized my workplace, introduced me to experts, and participated in other research activities. They were open to any type of collaboration and discussions.
Working in another country comes with some changes in lifestyle and working conditions. I needed to adapt to different time zones, colleagues, cultures, languages, and weather conditions. My secondment in Tashkent started on June the 10th with hot weather of 55 C and sun in the blue sky without any clouds. That was so different from my country; at the beginning, it was so hard to keep working because, in Latvia, the weather is much more cold and humid. In Uzbekistan, the sun was shining during the whole period of the secondment. That was beautiful!
Secondment at the Academy was an excellent opportunity for me to experience a new research issue; I explored Uzbekistan’s export activities and legislation related to them. My research topic was “Indicators of Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Development of Legislation of Support for Export Activities.” I met experts in this area, conducted interviews, workshops, held lectures/seminars for Masters students of the Academy about legal aspects of export activities: main risks and their elimination. I shared my knowledge, experience, perspective, and contacts to help them develop new ideas or new working practices. At the same time, the secondment was a learning curve that provided valuable operational, managerial, and relational experience for me.
Within the time spent working within the Academy, I had a great opportunity to find out what can sometimes seem different in such areas as economics, politics, and law. I recognized objective things that showed me that in the globalization era, however, the world is separated politically, and the country’s economic development can be affected by other states and international organizations’ decisions. I had the opportunity to meet with the best experts from various government institutions: Institute of Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research, Export Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Commissioner for Protection of Rights and Legitimate Interests of Entrepreneurs under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
At a personal and professional level, the secondment provided me with an opportunity to create new contacts and develop my professional network. I achieved this by working with people from different backgrounds and getting to know them personally. I believe these contacts will be an invaluable resource in the future.
Also, I had the opportunity to explore Uzbekistan’s traditions and culture. I was happy to visit Opera in Tashkent and travel to Samarkand. I was introduced to the beauty of Tashkent.
It was the perfect way to put all my professional skills to the test, recognize just how competent I am, and find out what I need to learn very quickly. But that’s when I became acutely aware of my true capabilities. I will remember this secondment experience, the great working relationships, along with the wonderful people I met.
