Over the past four years, 52,000 hectares of new vineyards have been planted in the country, doubling the share of grapes in the export of fruit and vegetables.

About a fifth of Uzbekistan's labour force is employed in agriculture, a sector which makes up about a quarter of GDP.

Moody's said it expected Uzbekistan's GDP growth to rebound to 5.5 percent in 2021 and 6.3 percent in 2022.