Foreign Investment - The Times Of Central Asia

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Pax Silica

Kazakhstan’s Pax Silica Accession Bodes Well for Foreign Investment

Kazakhstan’s accession to Pax Silica is more than a diplomatic ribbon-cutting. It is an investment signal. By joining an initiative supported by the United States and built around trusted supply chains for the new artificial intelligence economy, Kazakhstan has placed itself inside one of the most important emerging conversations in global industry about who will supply the minerals, energy, computing infrastructure, data centers, talent and manufacturing capacity behind the AI boom. Kazakhstan’s official readout was explicit about that ambition. Pax Silica, it said, brings partner countries together around artificial intelligence, critical minerals, semiconductors, data centers, energy infrastructure, high-tech manufacturing, research and talent development. Kazakhstan became the first country from its region to join, with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev signing the accession declaration and the AI Opportunity Partnership statement in Washington on June 25. “Behind every AI solution are energy, critical minerals, computing capacity, data centers, semiconductors, engineering talent, and secure supply chains,” Madiyev said. Pax Silica is a supply-chain coalition whereby each participant brings a piece of the AI industrial base such as chips, energy, minerals, capital, cloud infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, regulatory alignment or technical talent. Reuters has described the initiative as a U.S.-led effort to secure the supply chains behind artificial intelligence, from energy and critical minerals to high-end manufacturing and AI models. Kazakhstan’s inclusion demonstrates that the country is being viewed as a potentially significant node in the physical infrastructure of the AI economy. Why Kazakhstan Fits the Pax Silica Map Kazakhstan has existing relevance in the AI supply chain as well as the capability to expand that role. That helps explain why Kazakhstan, rather than another regional state, became the first Central Asian node to plug into Pax Silica’s trusted supply-chain architecture. The U.S. International Trade Administration says Kazakhstan has substantial reserves of rare earth elements, copper, lithium, tungsten, tantalum and other materials essential for modern technologies and the energy transition. It also notes that the country’s policy focus is shifting from raw-material exports toward value-added processing and downstream production. With regard to the energy feedstock needed to power AI data centers, Kazakhstan has been the world’s leading uranium producer since 2009 and produced about 40% of global output in 2025. Nuclear energy is returning to the strategic conversation as governments and companies look for firm, low-carbon electricity. Kazakhstan also has a proven record as a resource partner for the U.S. and the West. U.S. energy majors helped build Kazakhstan’s modern oil sector, with Chevron beginning production from a $48 billion expansion of the Tengiz oilfield in 2025. In aerospace, Kazakhstan’s Ust-Kamenogorsk Titanium and Magnesium Plant supplies major global manufacturers, including Boeing and Airbus, and officials say titanium from Kazakhstan accounts for roughly one-fifth of the global aerospace titanium market. A New Layer in U.S.-Kazakhstan Alignment Pax Silica also follows a warming trend in U.S.-Kazakhstan relations under the Trump administration. Tokayev has already framed Kazakhstan as an active participant in several U.S.-backed initiatives, including the Abraham Accords, the...

Investment Project Implementation

Uzbekistan Pushes to Turn $43 Billion in Investment Deals into Economic Growth

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has instructed officials to accelerate the implementation of investment agreements signed during the 5th Tashkent International Investment Forum, stressing that every deal must deliver tangible economic results rather than remain on paper. Speaking at a government meeting on June 25, Mirziyoyev said the forum resulted in 177 agreements worth $43 billion with foreign partners. He added that each agreement should be transformed into concrete projects that create jobs and generate higher added value. “Every agreement must become a project, a workplace, and a source of high added value,” the president said. Officials were ordered to prepare decisions addressing 120 proposals submitted by foreign investors during the forum. Mirziyoyev also called on ministers and regional governors to rethink their approach to investment, placing greater emphasis on quality and efficiency. According to the president, half of all investment attracted to Uzbekistan over the past five years has gone to just four regions, but economic returns differ sharply. In Fergana, he said, every UZS 1 million invested generates an additional UZS 273,000 ($22.78) in gross regional product. In Samarkand, the figure is UZS 262,000. In Bukhara, it is UZS 117,000 ($9.76), roughly half the return in stronger-performing regions. The meeting also focused on the growing demand for construction materials driven by Uzbekistan’s ambitious development plans. Earlier this year, the government adopted a long-term housing program aiming to double the number of new homes built annually to 280,000 by 2040 and increase the number of “New Uzbekistan” residential districts from 61 to 120. In addition, Uzbekistan is commissioning 20 to 25 million square meters of commercial buildings every year, creating annual demand for at least $10 billion worth of construction materials. During the investment forum, the government also presented $27 billion in new infrastructure projects to international investors. These include a nuclear power plant in Jizzakh, a fourth copper processing plant in Tashkent Region, New Tashkent Airport with an annual capacity of 20 million passengers, a 55,000-seat stadium in New Tashkent, and a 282-kilometer highway linking Tashkent and Samarkand. Mirziyoyev said these large-scale projects require construction materials that meet strict international standards and instructed officials to establish a new system linking domestic manufacturers with major investment projects. The president also ordered the government to prepare proposals ensuring equal conditions for imported and locally produced construction materials. While foreign investors have requested value-added tax exemptions for imported materials used in major projects, domestic manufacturers argue that the same incentives should apply to local products, saying they are ready to compete on quality and standards. The meeting also addressed financial difficulties in the construction materials sector. According to officials, 457 companies have accumulated 3.5 trillion soums ($292,101,250) in overdue loans because their products remain too expensive or fail to meet current market demand. To help revive the sector, Mirziyoyev ordered officials to develop recovery plans for each company and allocate $50 million to modernize production facilities, reduce manufacturing costs, and support the production of more competitive goods.

Foreign Investment

Opinion: Why Deals Go Quiet – Contracts, Trust, and Business Development in Central Asia

The meeting had gone well. The counterpart had nodded at the right moments, asked sensible questions, and shaken hands warmly at the door. There had been no objection, no pushback, no obvious red flag. Then nothing happened. No follow-up call. No revised term sheet. No polite email explaining what had changed. Just silence, stretching from weeks into months, until the deal that had seemed close was quietly, undeniably dead. Foreign executives who have spent time in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, or elsewhere in Central Asia may recognize this pattern. It is often filed away as bad luck, an unresponsive partner, or a market that “just isn’t ready.” Sometimes those explanations are partly true. But in many cases, something more basic is at work: the parties are operating with different assumptions about trust, commitment, communication, and timing. There is a way to put this more precisely. In many Western commercial settings, the contract gives the commercial relationship its legal form: it records binding obligations, allocates risk, and defines what each side can enforce. In Kazakhstan, and in many business settings across Central Asia, the broader business relationship often remains the framework within which the contract is negotiated, performed, and sustained. Neither approach is irrational. The trouble begins when either side assumes its own is simply how serious business works everywhere. The issue is not that contracts are meaningless or unenforceable. It is that many deals do not close. They stall because the relationship, the people who actually back the deal, or trust around the transaction was never strong enough to carry it forward. In many Western commercial settings, the contract is treated as the main container of trust. Negotiation builds toward a signature, and the signature defines what each party now owes the other. After that point, performance is supported by process: lawyers, clauses, deadlines, courts, regulators, and dispute mechanisms. The relationship matters, but it is often understood as something that produces the contract. In Kazakhstan and across much of Central Asia, business development can work differently. The relationship often remains the container in which an agreement sits. A memorandum of understanding (MOU), for example, may be seen less as the end of the conversation than as one stage in a longer process of confidence-building. A foreign negotiator may believe the signature closes the matter. A local counterpart may believe it has only moved the relationship into a new phase. Neither approach is irrational. Both are ways of managing uncertainty. The difficulty begins when either side assumes its own approach is simply how serious business works everywhere. This is one of the details foreign investors often miss: failure rarely announces itself. There is no confrontation, no dramatic breakdown, no final meeting in which the deal is formally pronounced dead. It shows up instead as an absence. A phone that stops ringing. A term sheet that does not move. A relationship that goes quiet without explanation. A Western team may read silence as the absence of a problem. No news is good news. In...

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.

Foreign Investment

Foreign Investment in Uzbekistan Gains Strong Momentum

Foreign direct investment remains one of Uzbekistan’s key tools for supporting sustainable economic growth. The country is expanding capital inflows to finance large-scale projects in the power sector, industry, and infrastructure. According to the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), accumulated investment in Uzbekistan from countries in the Eurasian region, China, the Gulf states, and Turkey reached $32.9 billion in 2025, 2.6 times the 2020 level. Over the five-year period, the total rose by more than $20 billion, making Uzbekistan one of the most active investment destinations in Eurasia. China remains the largest investor in Uzbekistan’s economy, with accumulated investment reaching $10.7 billion, more than five times the level recorded five years earlier. More than half of Chinese investment was directed into the power sector, mainly solar and wind energy projects. More than $3.3 billion went into industrial projects, including petrochemicals, automotive manufacturing, and construction materials production. The Gulf states recorded the fastest investment growth in Uzbekistan. Over five years, investment volumes rose nearly 19 times to $8.3 billion. Around 90% of these funds are concentrated in power generation and renewable energy projects. The largest investors include ACWA Power, with projects worth $4 billion, as well as Masdar and the Uzbek-Oman Investment Company. Turkey increased its investment in Uzbekistan 5.5 times to $3.1 billion, mainly in the power and manufacturing sectors. Among the leading Turkish investors is Aksa Energy, which is building thermal power plants across several regions of the country. Other Turkish firms are involved in beverage production, construction materials, and cement manufacturing. Thirteen countries in the Eurasian region, including the Commonwealth of Independent States, Georgia, Mongolia, and Ukraine, invested $10.8 billion in Uzbekistan, primarily in oil, gas, and petrochemicals. Russia remains the largest source of investment among these countries. Kazakhstan’s role has also expanded, with its investment in Uzbekistan rising more than 11 times to nearly $700 million. Speaking at the 5th Tashkent International Investment Forum on June 17, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said the country had attracted more than $150 billion in foreign investment over recent years, including $123 billion over the past five years. According to Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, the total volume of investments implemented in the country in 2025 reached $43.1 billion, up 24% from the previous year. The ministry said foreign direct investment accounted for $38.2 billion, while funding from international financial institutions totaled $4.9 billion. In its macroeconomic outlook for 2026-2028, the EDB forecasts that Uzbekistan’s economy will grow by around 6.8% in 2026, supported by strong investment activity and favorable gold prices. Inflation is expected to continue declining toward the Central Bank of Uzbekistan’s target and may slow to 6.7% by the end of 2026. The EDB also said the national currency would be supported by high remittance levels and growth in metal exports.

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...