_BIOGRAPHY Tatyana Bystrushkina is Executive Director of AmCham Uzbekistan, a sustainability and government-relations specialist with over twelve years of board-level experience in ESG, strategy and foreign investment across Eurasia. She founded the Chamber's CSR Committee and serves on the UN Global Compact Central Asia Advisory Board.

“THE BEST WAY TO ATTRACT NEW INVESTORS IS TO MAKE SURE THE EXISTING ONES ARE DOING WELL.”

AMCHAM UZBEKISTAN NOW REPRESENTS OVER 140 MEMBER COMPANIES ACROSS MAJOR SECTORS. HOW DOES MEMBERSHIP DELIVER CONCRETE VALUE FOR COMPANIES AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF THEIR INVESTMENT JOURNEY?

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The American Chamber of Commerce in Uzbekistan was founded in 1997 as the country's first independent international business association. We work closely with the government to improve the investment climate and to promote Uzbekistan as a reliable trade partner and an attractive destination for capital. Our membership brings together more than 140 major US, European and Uzbek companies operating in the country. Around 10 percent are prospective investors from the United States, the European Union and the MENA region who are still weighing a decision to enter the market.

Our role is to give members a platform where they can access reliable information, exchange expertise and build the relationships that help them grow. When we survey members on what they value most, sectoral policy dialogue with the government consistently comes first. We run that dialogue through eleven active committees, including Financial and Banking Services, Tax and Accounting, Digital Transformation, FMCG, Education and ESG.

Each committee consolidates member feedback, develops evidence-based recommendations and carries them into structured conversations with government institutions. As I give this interview, we have just received excellent news: the Senate has accepted the Data Privacy law recommendations prepared by our Digital Transformation Committee.

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We also organise high-level networking events, business missions to Uzbekistan, the United States, the EU and other Central Asian countries, and industry-specific exhibitions. In early May we brought a delegation to the SelectUSA Investment Summit, the highest-profile investment event in the United States, which connects investors, companies, economic development organizations and industry experts. Above all, AmCham gives members a trusted community of more than 140 companies, and the confidence that comes from operating inside it.

PRESIDENT MIRZIYOYEV HAS SET A TARGET OF AROUND $50 BILLION IN FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN 2026 AND A GDP OF ROUGHLY $167 BILLION. WHAT FACTORS MAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY COMPELLING, AND HOW IS AMCHAM HELPING INVESTORS CAPITALISE ON IT?

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Since the reform agenda began in 2017 with the liberalisation of the economy and the opening of markets, the Platinum members of AmCham Uzbekistan alone have invested over US$ 30 billion and now employ thousands of people across the country. Our members operate in thirteen sectors of the economy. The best way to attract new investors is to make sure the existing ones are doing well, and they are. Several sectors stand out today.

Our largest committee is Fast Moving Consumer Goods, with members such as Coca-Cola, Nestlé, P&G, Herbalife and Amway. Coca-Cola has just opened its fourth factory and invested over US$ 500 million. The reason is straightforward: Uzbekistan has 38 million people, half the population of Central Asia, with one million babies born every year. GDP is rising, the country aims to become an upper-middle-income economy and to double GDP by 2030, and this year it plans to accede to the WTO with stable tariffs and clear, unchanged rules.

The second cluster is our Banking and Finance Committee, which gathers local and foreign banks such as Citi, JP Morgan, TBC, Ipoteka and InFin, alongside investment houses including Franklin Templeton. Franklin Templeton manages the National Investment Fund (UzNIF), which holds strategic minority stakes in 15 key state-owned enterprises valued at approximately US$ 1.93 billion. Investors are entering because Uzbekistan is in the middle of a comprehensive privatization programme, with the banking sector now opening major opportunities in corporate and private banking.

Our Digital Transformation Committee unites global technology names such as Google, Apple and Meta with payment systems including Mastercard and UCMG and developers such as EPAM and Exadel. They are here because the country has a clear digital roadmap, an IT Park offering tax-free residency, and an ambition to lift IT exports to US$ 5 billion by 2030.

Energy is another priority, with a roadmap that targets renewables exceeding 50 percent of the energy mix by 2030, and significant subcontracting opportunities for foreign firms. The current administration guarantees that reforms across every sector are irreversible. The first phase liberalised the exchange rate; the next phase is structural. My message to investors is simple. It is time to enter the Uzbek market.

AS UZBEKISTAN ENTERS A DECISIVE PHASE OF REFORM, WHAT ARE AMCHAM'S TOP PRIORITIES FOR 2026 IN POLICY ADVOCACY AND MEMBER ENGAGEMENT, AND WHERE COULD CONTINUED ENGAGEMENT WITH THE GOVERNMENT UNLOCK DEEPER FOREIGN INVESTMENT?

We value the policy dialogue we have with our counterparts in the government. What would make law-making considerably more efficient is the inclusion of leading industry players in the working groups when legislation is being drafted. That single change would advance the work of the Chamber and of the members who contribute so much to the development of Uzbekistan's main sectors.

I keep repeating that bringing private sector firms into the drafting process is a win for everyone. First, companies can support the regulatory impact assessments that should precede any new law. Second, most of our members are international companies that have taken part in similar legislative work in advanced economies and bring those best practices with them. The same logic applies across every sector AmCham covers.

Regional cooperation is our other major priority. For the past five years we have led the Regional AmCham initiative with our counterparts in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, promoting Central Asia as an attractive investment hub and working on the harmonisation of regional trade policies.

We are now actively involved in B5+1, the business track that runs alongside the C5+1 ministerial dialogue. It promotes cross-border cooperation, trade facilitation and the investment frameworks that give international companies the confidence to enter and expand across Central Asia. The February B5+1 Forum in Bishkek brought together 421 participants, including a substantial US business delegation led by Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan. The forum closed with more than fifteen memorandums signed and a clear commitment from Central Asian governments to synchronise policy.

SUSTAINABILITY AND THE GREEN ECONOMY ARE GROWING GLOBAL PRIORITIES. HOW IS AMCHAM ADVANCING THE GREEN AGENDA AMONG ITS MEMBERS, AND WHICH SECTORS WILL UZBEKISTAN EMERGE STRONGEST IN?

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AmCham Uzbekistan's ESG Committee was established several years ago, perhaps slightly ahead of its time. As with everything we do, the agenda came from the bottom up, shaped by the priorities of our members. Most are multinationals, so the ESG requirements they brought to the table were those set by their headquarters in the United States, the European Union and other regions.

The committee now brings together more than thirty companies from energy, retail, manufacturing, textiles and consulting, including the Big Four. They set the agenda jointly, covering dialogue with government, training and events. Policy dialogue is the main driver. We work closely with the Ministry of Ecology and the Ministry of Finance, and we organise regular joint events with both. In 2024 we developed the National Business Agenda in Green Economy, and several short-term recommendations from that document have already been delivered.

Renewable Energy Certificates are a clear example. Following our 2024 recommendations, parts of the process were corrected, and 320,000 RECs were sold in 2025. In January we hosted the Market Launch and Business Opportunities event for the I-REC(E) certificates.

Among the longer-term recommendations was the development of a national strategy on emissions reduction by sector, including the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions across industries and individual enterprises, supported by the legislation and obligations needed to make it work. Done properly, this will benefit every other sector of the economy.