Uzbekistan and the United States launched a joint investment platform in Tashkent on June 16 as senior U.S. officials and corporate executives gathered for the fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum, advancing cooperation in energy, infrastructure, critical minerals, and advanced manufacturing.
On the eve of the forum, Mirziyoyev hosted a delegation of leading U.S. companies and government financing institutions, a gathering he described as continuing a “good tradition” that reflects the growing appetite of U.S. businesses for a larger footprint in Uzbekistan. Among those present were John Jovanovic, president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), and Ben Black, chief executive officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), two officials whose institutions are emerging as principal channels for U.S. financing and investment support in the country.
They were joined by Carolyn Lamm, chair of the American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce, alongside executives representing Air Products, Cove Capital, Templeton Global Investments, Boeing, 77 Construction, BlackRock, Visa, JPMorgan, and Meta, among others, a roster spanning aerospace, finance, technology, and industrial sectors that underscores the breadth of U.S. commercial interest in the country.
Black (DFC), Jovanovic (EXIM), Minister Laziz (MIIT), and Shukhrat Vafayev, Executive Director (UFRD); image: president.uz
President Mirziyoyev told the delegation that the economic agenda remains one of the key pillars of the strategic partnership between Uzbekistan and the United States, and laid out priority areas for deepening trade and economic cooperation. Particular emphasis was placed on projects in the development and processing of critical minerals, along with opportunities in energy, metallurgy, finance, artificial intelligence, and digital technologies. In response, the visiting executives thanked the president for the investment climate Uzbekistan has cultivated and outlined their proposals in a roundtable that culminated in a ceremony to exchange bilateral documents with participating U.S. companies.
This broader engagement builds on a relationship Washington and Tashkent have been steadily formalizing over the past several years, as Uzbekistan has positioned itself as a more open and stable partner for foreign capital amid wider efforts to reform its economy and integrate more closely with global markets. The country’s reserves of critical minerals, resources considered essential to U.S. technology, defense, and energy industries, have become a strategic priority for Washington, while Tashkent has sought to leverage U.S. expertise and financing to modernize sectors from energy to healthcare. That convergence of interests has increasingly framed Uzbekistan not merely as a bilateral partner but as a node in a larger U.S. strategy toward Central Asia.
At the U.S.-Uzbekistan Business Forum in Tashkent on June 16, 2026, a curtain-raiser to the broader Tashkent International Investment Forum, panelists Ben Black, John Jovanovic, and Laziz Kudratov, Uzbekistan’s minister of investment, industry, and trade, discussed Tashkent’s proposal for a special economic zone tailored to U.S. companies. Minerals, fertilizer production, pharmaceuticals, and textiles were identified as the four priority sectors for deeper bilateral cooperation, alongside a new U.S.-Uzbekistan Joint Investment Platform building on earlier preliminary agreements. The forum drew the largest U.S. business delegation in the history of bilateral relations, with 193 company representatives. Carolyn Lamm of the American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce said the value of new U.S. investments announced for Uzbekistan exceeded $1 billion last year and had already surpassed $2 billion this year.
These efforts were advanced in a separate meeting on the sidelines of the forum between Mirziyoyev, Jovanovic, and Black, during which the visiting officials opened proceedings by relaying greetings from President Donald Trump. The discussions centered on expanding the role of U.S. financial institutions in financing strategic projects in infrastructure, critical minerals, energy, artificial intelligence, and digital technologies. The two sides agreed to accelerate joint projects to modernize Uzbekistan’s energy sector through EXIM, with special attention to further developing export-credit financing mechanisms for domestic businesses operating in priority sectors.
The DFC, for its part, launched the U.S.-Uzbekistan Joint Investment Platform, a framework intended to identify strategic projects in energy, infrastructure, critical minerals, transportation and logistics, advanced manufacturing, and other priority sectors. The two sides also agreed to move major infrastructure initiatives toward implementation, including a new international airport in Tashkent, a modern medical complex in the Ferghana region, a digital bank, data centers, and dry ports. They agreed to adopt a joint roadmap to advance the projects and finalize contracts.
The practical shape of that cooperation was illustrated in Mirziyoyev’s meeting with Eduardo Menezes, chief executive officer of Air Products. The company, a global leader in industrial gases with a market capitalization exceeding $60 billion and roughly 750 production facilities across more than 50 countries, has become one of the more substantial U.S. investors in Uzbekistan, with total investment surpassing $1 billion to date. Its footprint in the country includes industrial-gas processing at the Uzbekistan GTL plant, hydrogen production at the Fergana Oil Refinery, and liquid carbon dioxide production at Navoiazot, alongside educational programs in Tashkent and Karshi. The two sides agreed to accelerate new joint projects under a dedicated roadmap, offering a concrete example of how established U.S. investment can develop into a long-term industrial partnership.
Underscoring the institutional weight behind this push, the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent announced the inaugural U.S. government members of the U.S.-Uzbekistan Business and Investment Council at the forum on June 16. The council, launched in Washington in April 2026, is co-chaired by Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Ambassador Sergio Gor and Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of Uzbekistan’s Presidential Administration, and is intended to accelerate bilateral trade and private-sector investment. Its U.S. members include DFC Vice President Bethany Aquilina Brez, EXIM Senior Vice President Sarah Witten, Assistant Secretary of Commerce David Fogel, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs Caleb Orr, and U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jonathan Henick.
U.S. Department of State (April 2026); image: Saida Mirziyoyeva X
Ahead of the Tashkent forum (April 2026), Saida Mirziyoyeva, Head of the Presidential Administration and co-chair of the American-Uzbek Business and Investment Council, undertook an intensive series of meetings in the United States. She held discussions with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau, Special Envoy Sergio Gor, and representatives of the American business community and chambers of commerce, reinforcing the economic dimension of bilateral relations and laying the groundwork for agreements announced during TIIF.
