Review and comparative analysis of national strategies in emerging market countries

The goal of the study consists in critical assessment of the best practices of a number of emerging market countries in formulating and implementing national development strategies. We have confirmed that national development strategies in the context of globalization are essentially, policies of survival of countries in fierce competition for commodity and finished goods markets, for advanced innovative technologies and foreign direct investment. This issue is particularly pressing in post-Soviet countries, including Uzbekistan, as after the collapse of the Soviet Union, newly emerged economies had an immense need for setting up an integrated system of strategic planning based on long-term forecasts of socio-economic development. It is because the strictly hierarchical structure for administrative planning which was peculiar to the Soviet management system was already obsolete, inefficient and unproductive. The paper argues that many countries are yet to find a comprehensive solution to their development objectives and are in a constant search for approaches and methods of long-term development that are suitable to their specific geographical and socio-economic conditions. However, this is not a straightforward task. Forming a comprehensive national development strategy, in line with the other arrangements, requires critical assessment of the past as well as the existing experiences of other countries. For this purpose, the paper analyzes the practices of several countries of Asia, Latin America and the post-Soviet space in developing long-term strategic goals of socio-economic development. Based on observations, the paper concludes that national development strategies should be grounded on rational calculation of actual potential, comparative advantage and real sources of growth of a country. Uzbekistan, as many other countries of the post-Soviet space, needs to complete the process of creating a solid regulatory framework of strategic planning and management, accompanied by active implementation of economic policies aimed at achieving long-term growth objectives. In particular, it is necessary to accelerate the adoption of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan «On Strategic Planning», to formulate a strategy for long-term socio-economic development and ensure that all medium or short-term sectorial and territorial development programs are coordinated with it.