“EARLY ENTRANTS SECURE THE STRONGEST LONG-TERM POSITIONS IN ASSETS, SUPPLY CHAINS, MARKET SHARE AND LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS BEFORE COMPETITION FULLY INTENSIFIES. THE DIRECTION IS SET, AND THE WINDOW FOR FIRST-MOVER ADVANTAGE IS OPEN NOW.”

UZBEKISTAN ATTRACTED $43.1 BILLION IN TOTAL FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN 2025, INCLUDING $38.2 BILLION IN FDI. HOW DO AGREEMENTS BECOME OPERATIONAL PROJECTS?

​

Execution begins with ownership. For us, a signed agreement is not the final result. The result is financial close, construction, commissioning, production, exports and jobs. Recent overseas business missions produced more than 170 prospective agreements worth in excess of $12 billion. Every major agreement of this kind is assigned to a responsible ministry, sectoral agency or regional administration, which answers for its delivery on the ground and reports on it transparently. Each project follows a roadmap covering feasibility, financing, land allocation, utilities, permits, construction timelines and launch.

Progress is tracked centrally through pmi.miit.uz. The government reviews the platform regularly, and when a permit stalls, or a regulation needs clarification, decisions are coordinated quickly across agencies.

​

For 2026, we are strengthening this delivery model further. Strategic investment projects will receive faster administrative and permitting procedures. Dedicated investor support managers will stay with each project from preparation to commissioning. Regional authorities will be involved from the start, with direct responsibility for land and supporting infrastructure.

We are also clear about the bottlenecks. In a fast-growing investment pipeline, the main issues are land allocation, grid and utility connections, permits, tender procedures and financial close. Our monitoring system is designed to escalate these issues early, assign responsibility and prevent administrative delays from becoming project failures. A signed agreement only opens the door. We measure success by commissioned capacity, operating enterprises, export output and jobs created. Our institutions remain in contact with investors across the full project cycle, which is how commitments turn into operating enterprises and new industrial capacity.

GREEN ENERGY ANCHORS THE INVESTMENT STRATEGY. WHAT INCENTIVES WILL MOBILISE LARGER FOREIGN CAPITAL?

​

Green energy is a core pillar of Uzbekistan's long-term investment strategy. Over recent years the country has launched large-scale solar and wind projects through transparent tenders and public-private partnerships, with leading international investors taking equity and operational roles. Two projects set the reference points. The 1 GW Jizzakh Solar PV Plant and the 500 MW Navoi Wind Farm both reflect a commitment to a low-carbon economy and to bankable contract structures that international lenders recognise. The next phase is already being prepared. The Government plans further expansion of solar and wind capacity, paired with dedicated investment in energy storage and grid modernisation, so that new generation reaches industry and households reliably.

On the regulatory side, the framework around power purchase agreements, land tenure, investor protections and offtake guarantees is being upgraded, and bankable investment agreements are being standardised across repeat transactions. Dispute resolution clauses and currency provisions are being aligned with the expectations of international sponsors and lenders. Our aim is clear: larger projects, longer tenors, stronger sponsors and rules that investors and lenders can rely on for the full life of the project.

THE 2026 TARGET IS OVER $50 BILLION IN FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. WHICH POLICY INSTRUMENTS ARE DECISIVE?

​

The over $50 billion target is not only a volume target. It is a quality target: more private capital, more industrial projects, more export capacity, more technology transfer and more jobs. Private investment, and foreign investment in particular, is increasingly the engine of industrial growth, technological upgrading, export expansion and productivity gains. A unified national investment framework aligns ministries, regional administrations, sector regulators and development institutions around clearly defined priorities. Regions develop bankable projects that build on their own industrial, resource, geographic and human capital strengths. Sectoral ministries remove regulatory barriers. Investment pipelines are monitored systematically, so initiatives move from concept to execution on a predictable timeline.

The most decisive instruments remain economic liberalisation and large-scale privatisation, reinforced by the expansion of public-private partnerships and targeted tax and customs incentives. Privatisation is moving from policy statement to practical transactions. The objective is not only to sell assets, but to improve governance, attract strategic capital and prepare selected companies for higher standards of transparency and market discipline. These reforms are opening sectors long dominated by the state, creating space for international capital in infrastructure, industry, strategic resources and agribusiness. Uzbekistan is also becoming a regional production and logistics base for Central Asia, and as regional connectivity deepens, investors entering the country gain access to a growing domestic market of over 38 million people and to a wider regional economic space of more than 75 million. Our objective is long-term industrial investment that reinforces Uzbekistan's place in regional value chains, well beyond short-cycle capital flows.

HOW WILL WTO ACCESSION STRENGTHEN THE COUNTRY FOR INVESTORS?

​

Accession has entered its final phase. The 12th meeting of the Working Party was held in Geneva on 9 March 2026, reviewing the revised Working Party Report and the membership obligations prepared on the basis of responses to member countries. Uzbekistan is now working to conclude outstanding bilateral negotiations with all 35 interested member countries. Market access for goods and services is being settled alongside commitments on subsidies, import licensing, technical barriers and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

To align national law with WTO rules, more than 180 legal and normative acts have been amended over the past three years. Several draft laws are scheduled for adoption, including legislation on food safety, anti-dumping, countervailing measures, safeguards, technical regulation, general product safety, market surveillance, veterinary affairs and plant quarantine. For investors the implications are direct. Trade policy becomes anchored in an internationally enforceable rulebook. Predictability and transparency strengthen, and exports diversify as new markets open and trade barriers fall, reducing exposure to raw-material cycles. Accession will also drive deeper domestic reform, stronger product standards, more capable trade institutions and firmer protection of intellectual property.

WHICH SECTORS WILL ATTRACT THE STRONGEST MULTILATERAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ADB AND EBRD THIS YEAR?

​

Partnerships with the Asian Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development reduce risk for foreign investors in practical ways.

​

The role of ADB and EBRD is not only financing. Their participation changes the risk profile of a project. It improves project preparation, procurement, environmental and social standards, financial structuring and governance. Long-term financing, co-financing, risk-sharing instruments and guarantees make large infrastructure projects bankable. Transparency lifts. Projects run with multilateral development banks follow strict procurement and governance rules, and that rigour carries through to commercial co-investors.

Looking ahead, energy will remain the leading area of international participation, with renewable generation, grid modernisation, storage and transmission upgrades at the core of the low-carbon transition. Transport and logistics will see significant interest, including railways, regional corridors, modern logistics systems and border-crossing infrastructure that strengthen Central Asian trade. Sustainable water management and climate-resilient infrastructure is another area of rising engagement, where international partners bring advanced technology together with deep technical expertise. Digital infrastructure and advanced manufacturing are drawing growing attention as drivers of diversification. These partnerships do more than fund projects. They mobilise global capital, raise project quality, strengthen institutional capacity and create the conditions under which long-term international investment can take hold.

WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE TO THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS RECEIVING THIS EDITION?

​

Uzbekistan has entered a new stage of economic development. The country is a reforming economy of scale. Its population exceeds 38 million, growth is strong, and policy is directed at expanding the role of private and foreign capital in sectors that generate long-term value. The figure most worth citing is already on the record. In 2025 Uzbekistan attracted $43.1 billion in foreign investment, and that number tells serious investors what they need to know about where the economy is heading, particularly when set against the reform programme that produced it.

The state is reducing its footprint, opening major assets and sectors to private participation, and aligning policy around competitiveness, industrial upgrading, export capacity and productivity. The quality of opportunity has changed accordingly. International investors are entering a market where industries, supply chains, production clusters and financial infrastructure are still forming. Central Asia now functions as an integrated economic space, and Uzbekistan sits at its centre by population, industrial capacity, geography and infrastructure connectivity. Early entrants secure the strongest long-term positions in assets, supply chains, market share and local partnerships before competition fully intensifies. The 2026 target is over $50 billion. The direction is set, and the window for first-mover advantage is open now.