Critical Minerals - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 1 - 6 of 111

Industrialization

Tajikistan Targets Industrial Growth as Share of GDP to Reach 30% by 2030

Tajikistan aims to increase industry’s share of gross domestic product to 30% by 2030 as part of its accelerated industrialization strategy, the State Committee on Investments and State Property Management said. The committee said the country has a strong raw materials base to support industrial development. According to the agency, Tajikistan has 10 of the 12 critical minerals most in demand for projects linked to the global green transition. More than 800 mineral and precious metal deposits have also been identified across the country, it said. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has also described Tajikistan as having more than 600 documented deposits of around 50 minerals, including silver, gold, lead, and zinc. The bank has said the country holds some of the largest antimony reserves in the region, though limited private investment has slowed development of the sector. Authorities say the focus is shifting beyond raw material extraction toward processing industries. Priority sectors include textiles, agricultural processing, construction materials, machine building, chemicals, and electrical equipment manufacturing. According to the committee, the strategy is designed to create investment opportunities across the full production cycle, from resource extraction to finished goods aimed at regional and international markets.

Tashkent International Investment Forum

Washington and Tashkent Deepen Economic Ties at TIIF

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. [caption id="attachment_50624" align="aligncenter" width="1943"] Black (DFC), Jovanovic (EXIM), Minister Laziz (MIIT), and Shukhrat Vafayev, Executive Director (UFRD); image: president.uz[/caption] 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...

Tashkent International Investment Forum

Data, Minerals, and the New Tashkent: Uzbekistan Pitches Its Next Growth Phase at Investment Forum

Uzbekistan used the opening of this year’s Tashkent International Investment Forum to make a broader pitch than investment alone: the country is presenting itself as a platform for data-driven governance, value-added mineral processing, and large-scale urban development. The fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum is being held in the Uzbek capital from June 16-18, bringing together government officials, international financial institutions, business leaders, and investors as Uzbekistan seeks to reinforce its position as one of Central Asia’s leading investment destinations. Held under the theme “Investment Resilience: New Frontiers, New Partnerships,” TIIF 2026 comes as Uzbekistan continues to promote reforms aimed at attracting capital, expanding industrial production, developing digital infrastructure, and moving higher up global value chains. Mirziyoyev Sets Out Investment Priorities Addressing the forum on June 17, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev presented Uzbekistan’s recent economic performance as evidence of growing investor confidence. He said the country had attracted more than $150 billion in foreign investment in recent years, including $123 billion over the past five years. According to the president, nearly 4,000 foreign guests from more than 100 countries are attending this year’s forum, reflecting its expanding international profile. The event brought together heads of state, prime ministers, representatives of international financial institutions, and business executives from around the world. Mirziyoyev said Uzbekistan remained committed to creating a favorable investment environment through reforms designed to protect investors’ rights and broaden economic opportunities. He said GDP grew by 7.7% in 2025, foreign investment reached $43 billion, international reserves exceeded $70 billion, and Uzbekistan rose 14 places in the Index of Economic Freedom, joining the group of economies classified as “moderately free.” He also emphasized the pace of economic growth. Four years ago, he said, Uzbekistan set a target of reaching a $100 billion economy by the end of 2026; now, he said, GDP is expected to exceed $180 billion this year. Mirziyoyev also announced plans to establish the Tashkent International Financial Center, a tax- and customs-free zone operating under a special legal regime based on English common law principles. He said the center would offer zero rates on profit tax, value-added tax, property tax, and customs duties, while guaranteeing free capital movement and payments in any currency. Delta Y: A Data Infrastructure Startup Looks to Uzbekistan One of the companies drawing attention at the forum was Delta Y, a Lisbon-based data infrastructure startup seeking to help governments and cities turn fragmented information into practical decision-making tools. Founded in 2025, Delta Y describes itself as a “data infrastructure layer” for governments, institutions, and advisory firms. Its goal is to use data engineering and artificial intelligence to turn disconnected datasets into usable analysis. Co-founder Afonso Carvas said the idea emerged from his experience working with data teams in technology companies and from a broader question: whether governments and cities could gain access to the same quality of data infrastructure used by leading global companies. That question eventually led the company to Uzbekistan. Why Uzbekistan? Carvas said Delta Y first began looking at Uzbekistan after a...

Tashkent International Investment Forum

Mirziyoyev Says Uzbekistan’s Doors Will “Always Remain Open” as Fifth Tashkent Investment Forum Begins

TASHKENT, June 17 — President Shavkat Mirziyoyev opened the Fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF) on Wednesday with a message aimed squarely at the nearly 4,000 mostly foreign delegates packed into the hall: Uzbekistan's doors are open, and the country intends to keep them that way. Speaking under this year's theme, "Investment Resilience: New Frontiers, New Partnerships," Mirziyoyev framed the forum as more than a transactional venue for capital, but as a platform to initiate and deepen long-term mutually beneficial partnerships. He described what he called the "Tashkent investment spirit" — a phrase he used to capture the event's evolution into what he called a symbol of shared success between Uzbekistan and the partners willing to back it. The sentiment ran through his closing remarks, where he told the room that “the most important partner in turning ambitious plans into reality is an investor who arrives with good intentions. Therefore, the doors of New Uzbekistan will always remain open to foreign investors who come to our country with trust and ideas.” The guest list underscored the forum's growing diplomatic prowess. Mirziyoyev personally thanked Albanian President Bajram Begaj, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Belarusian Prime Minister Aleksandr Turchin, Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov, Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, Kyrgyz Cabinet Chairman Adylbek Kasymaliev, and Tajik Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda, alongside senior representatives from the EBRD, the New Development Bank, the World Bank, the IFC, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the European Investment Bank. Mirziyoyev cited a series of economic indicators to support the message. Uzbekistan has secured more than $150 billion in foreign investment since launching reforms, with $123 billion arriving in the last five years. In 2025, GDP expanded by 7.7%, foreign investment climbed to $43 billion, and reserves rose above $70 billion. According to Mirziyoyev, the economy is on track to exceed $180 billion this year, comfortably outpacing the $100 billion goal announced at the first forum four years ago — a sign, he said, of sustained momentum, underscored by a 14-position improvement in the Index of Economic Freedom. The pledges come as Uzbekistan seeks to deepen the economic opening launched under Mirziyoyev, with officials using the forum to market legal guarantees, capital-market reforms and new infrastructure projects to foreign investors. Mirziyoyev structured the rest of his address around six priorities. The first centers on legal guarantees for investors, anchored by the new Tashkent International Financial Center — a zero-tax-rate zone for corporate income, VAT, property, and customs duties, governed by English common law and backed by an independent commercial court staffed with foreign judges. The second targets capital markets, building on $16 billion in international bond placements and the recent National Investment Fund listing, which he called the London Stock Exchange's largest IPO in five years, with sovereign “sukuk issuance” planned next. The third priority is industrial value addition. Here, Mirziyoyev pointed to Uzbekistan's $3 trillion in estimated subsoil wealth and announced that foreign investment will be extensively channeled into the "Metals of...

Critical Minerals

Uzbekistan’s $4.2 Billion Critical Minerals Plan Aims to Turn Raw Materials Into Industry

Uzbekistan has placed a $4.2 billion critical minerals program at the center of its industrial policy, as Tashkent seeks to turn Soviet-era mining strengths into higher-value production for modern supply chains. The country has long sold metals and minerals, but the program reviewed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on June 15 puts more emphasis on refining, laboratory work, skilled workers, and finished industrial goods. The new 2026-2030 program, which sets out 120 projects, aims to lift critical minerals output to $1 billion by 2028 and $2 billion by 2030. The first tranche, planned for this year, covers 12 projects worth $166 million and production of high-purity selenium, tellurium, and rhenium. It also includes 21 import-substituting products, including powder metallurgy auto parts and sulfuric acid. The plan landed as investors gathered in Tashkent for the Fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum. Mirziyoyev used the forum to make a broader reform pitch. “We are always open to investors interested in cooperating with Uzbekistan and ready for an equal and mutually beneficial partnership,” he said in his opening speech. He also announced plans for a Tashkent International Financial Center with zero rates for profit tax, value-added tax, property tax, and customs duties. Critical minerals give that investment pitch a clearer focus. Global buyers are looking for supplies that do not depend on a handful of processing hubs, while resource-rich countries want more of the value to stay at home. Uzbekistan is trying to move into that field with metals it already produces, especially tungsten and molybdenum, and with smaller but valuable materials used in electronics, aerospace, energy equipment, and advanced manufacturing. The Uzbekistan Technological Metals Complex, known as TMK or UzTMK, is the state vehicle for much of this work. The company says its portfolio includes tungsten, molybdenum, rhenium, graphite, selenium, tellurium, lithium, nickel, and cobalt. Its stated model is “mine-metal-market,” meaning a chain from extraction to metal products and buyers. The June 15 package adds practical details. Uzbekistan wants more than concentrates and semi-finished goods. The presidential briefing listed metal powders, alloys, rods, wire, industrial parts, and finished products. For tungsten and molybdenum, that means deeper processing inside Uzbekistan rather than sending value abroad. Chirchik, east of Tashkent, is set to play a larger role. The government plans to expand the Metals of the Future technopark and build up an R&D center there. The site is designed to support start-ups, commercialize applied research, and produce high-purity metals. A planned nano-analysis laboratory would process up to 1,000 samples a day once fully operational. Officials say it could replace $6.5 million in imported analytical services and generate $4 million through service exports. The lab is one of the more practical parts of the program. Mining projects need more than deposits and investment pledges. They need reliable samples, resource estimates that meet international standards, steady power, and proven processing methods. A credible laboratory in Chirchik would not remove all those risks, but it would make it easier to move from geological data to financed projects. Global demand...

Data Sovereignty

Opinion: Data Sovereignty Will Decide Central Asia’s Critical Minerals Moment

The critical minerals conversation across Central Asia still too often begins in the wrong place: with what lies beneath the ground. It should begin with who controls the knowledge of what lies beneath it. For more than a century, the resource bargain usually ran in one direction. Foreign companies arrived with the instruments, surveys, and models. Host governments arrived with the territory. The resulting terms were often shaped by information asymmetry: not only who owned the rock, but who owned the data about the rock. That asymmetry is easier to narrow than it used to be. Airborne geophysical surveys, satellite-based mapping, modern geochemistry, and national geological databases can now give governments a clearer picture of their mineral endowment before the first serious investor meeting. The decisive question is not simply whether data can be generated. It is who owns it, who validates it, and who is allowed to use it when concessions, joint ventures, and infrastructure commitments are being negotiated. Capital is the reason this matters now. Critical minerals are no longer a specialist mining issue; they sit at the center of debates over energy security, electric vehicles, grid infrastructure, semiconductors, and defense supply chains. The IEA's Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 tracks how demand and supply are shifting across copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and rare earth elements. The U.S. C5+1 Critical Minerals Dialogue and the EU's strategic partnership with Kazakhstan show that Central Asia is already part of this conversation. But attention is not the same as leverage. Governments that negotiate from outdated maps, fragmented archives, or company-controlled exploration data will struggle to turn geopolitical interest into durable national benefit. They may still attract investors, but they will be negotiating through someone else's lens. A country that arrives at the table with modern, independently verifiable geological intelligence has more options. It can better value concessions, compare competing proposals, set clearer environmental and infrastructure expectations, and decide which resources are strategic enough to develop slowly rather than quickly. Data does not guarantee a good agreement. It does make a bad agreement harder to excuse. This is sovereignty in a practical form. The point is not to close the door to foreign capital or technical expertise. Central Asia will need both. The point is to ensure that the public side of the table has a master copy of the evidence. When the state owns the underlying data, investors can still compete on capital, technology, processing capability, logistics, and market access. What they should not control is the government's basic understanding of its own resource base. There is also a diplomatic dimension. The Minerals Security Partnership Forum is built around responsible, diverse, and resilient value chains, with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan among its members. For Central Asian governments, that creates an opening to ask not only who will mine, but who will build capacity - and who will leave the country with stronger institutions than before. Geological data, mining cadastres, processing plans, environmental baselines, and contract terms are all part of the...