The Central Asia-European Union Economic Forum and Investor Forum will be held in Uzbekistan in November. This was announced by the European Union Ambassador to Tashkent, Toivo Klaar, during the celebration of Europe Day on May 12.
“These forums will open up new business opportunities,” said the head of the diplomatic mission.
As a reminder, during the first Central Asia-European Union summit, which took place in April, the EU announced an investment package for Central Asia worth €12 billion for the development of four areas: transport corridors, critical raw materials, green energy, and satellite internet.
Toivo Klaar also noted that the EU is looking forward to the next Human Rights Dialogue.
In addition, the European Union is expecting a visit by Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Brussels this year to sign an Agreement on Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation.
“This historic visit will open a new chapter in relations between the EU and Uzbekistan, which will be deepened, diversified, and modernized in many areas,” the EU ambassador said in his speech.
On June 1, 2025, the Agreement on the mutual abolition of visas between Uzbekistan and China will come into force.
Under the Agreement, citizens of the Parties shall be exempt from visa requirements for entry, exit, or transit through the territories of both countries for a period of up to 30 days for each separate stay and a total of up to 90 days within any 180-day period.
At the same time, the period of each entry and stay in the territory of the Parties shall not exceed 30 days.
The visa-free regime does not apply to employment, study, media activities, or other activities that require prior approval by the competent authorities of the other Party.
The American investment company Franklin Templeton Asset Management has begun managing the assets of the National Investment Fund of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The company’s participation in the management of the investment fund was announced in February of this year.
This agreement is being implemented with the aim of supporting Uzbekistan’s economic development and attracting international investors.
As part of the cooperation, Franklin Templeton will manage an investment portfolio of 18 state-owned enterprises and commercial banks owned by the Fund and implement transformation programs aimed at increasing their investment attractiveness. After the implementation of these programs, the shares of the Fund, as well as the enterprises and banks under its management, will be listed on local and international stock exchanges.
To this end, Franklin Templeton will implement transformation programs, including reviewing the development strategies of state-owned enterprises and banks, bringing their corporate governance, financial performance, internal audit, and risk management systems into line with international standards, and improving staff skills.
In the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region of Kyrgyzstan, construction has officially begun on major railway facilities for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.
As part of the construction of this railway, three tunnels with a total length of over 10 km are planned to be built, including: Tunnel No. 1 Naryn (Jaman-Dawan) – 12.5 km; Koshtoba (Kazarman) tunnel – 13.2 km; Fergana mountain tunnel – 12.2 km. The total length of this railway project is 532.53 km.
CHINA, CONSTRUCTION, KYRGYZSTAN, RAILWAY, tunnels, UZBEKISTAN
Large-scale investment projects in the chemical industry are planned in the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan, which are expected to transform this industry into one of the key drivers of economic growth in the region. This was announced by the press secretary of the President of Uzbekistan during a meeting in the Urgench district.
This year, the first phase of the construction of a $10 billion gas chemical complex will begin in the Tuprakkalinsky district, which will use MTO (methanol-olefin) technology. Upon completion of the project, the complex will annually produce 14 types of basic polymer products with high added value and a total capacity of up to 2 million tons.
The project was first announced in March last year during the Head of State’s visit to the region. At that time, Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a working meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Energy, Uzkimyosanoat, and a large foreign investment company, whose name was not disclosed.
It was expected that the future production facilities would be able to produce up to 2.5 million tons of products per year and create about 3,000 jobs. The project is scheduled for implementation in 2024–2028.
In addition, a 10-hectare chemical technology park will be created in the Khazarasp district, where projects worth $100 million will be implemented for the production of polymer products.
Special attention was paid to the region’s construction industry. Last year, 663 enterprises in Khorezm produced building materials worth about $86.6 million. To further develop this segment, 40 new projects with a total value of $100 million are planned for implementation in 2025, which will increase production to about $118.1 million.
The management of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan discussed with representatives of Tencent Cloud International, a part of the Chinese holding Tencent Holdings Ltd, the issues of bilateral cooperation in the development of digital technologies and cloud infrastructure in the country, the press service of the regulator reports.
During the talks, the prospects of integrating Tencent’s WeChat Pay digital payment system with local payment systems of Uzbekistan, the possibility of making payments using QR codes, as well as expanding cooperation in this area were discussed, the statement said.
Following the meeting, the parties supported initiatives in the field of payment systems and agreed on future joint actions.
Miraziz Mirkhayotov, deputy director of the Central Bank’s payment systems department, told reporters that Chinese mobile payment services WeChat and Alipay (from Ant Group, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group) can be integrated with Uzbekistan’s national payment systems.
According to him, at the first stage, the parties are working to ensure that foreign tourists can make payments in Uzbekistan. At the second stage, similar work is planned to make payments by Uzbek residents in China through the republic’s payment systems Uzcard and Humo.
