Pokhara

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a new law Tuesday which allows the privatization of non-agricultural land for the first time in the country’s history.

The law was approved in May by the Senate, and will come into force on March 1, 2020. Previously, all land belonged to the state, the most populous country in Central Asia with over 33 million people.

Uzbekistan’s officials said earlier that the law has a historic significance for the development of the country’s economy; without land ownership, the market economy will not be complete, they said. According to the new law, legal entities and citizens of Uzbekistan can privatize land plots provided for running businesses and individual housing construction.