54 Agreements Worth $12 Billion: Uzbekistan Attracts U.S. Corporations to the Country
Central Asia Column “Steppe Ahead”
54 economic agreements worth over 12 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to approximately 10.7 billion euros: Uzbekistan and the U.S. finalized this package on October 19 in Samarkand. The occasion was the second meeting of the joint Business and Investment Council, which U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended. According to the Uzbek Presidential Administration, bilateral trade has increased by 35% since the beginning of the year. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke of the highest level of cooperation in the history of both countries.
From GE Aerospace to BlackRock: Who’s in the Deal
According to the Uzbek Ministry of Investment, the regional news portal Times of Central Asia counted over 400 corporate representatives in Samarkand, including more than 100 from the U.S. According to the Uzbek news service UzDaily, 45 ministries and government agencies prepared the package. Each U.S. company was assigned a specific partner from the national government, regional administration, or major industry. “We don’t have this kind of arrangement with any other country in the world,” Mirziyoyev said, according to the news channel Euronews.
The list of corporations is long. GE Aerospace is supplying engines for new aircraft for Uzbekistan Airways. According to UzDaily, Boeing sold 22 787 wide-body jets to the state-owned airline last year. Wabtec plans to supply locomotives and manufacture rail technology locally. Franklin Templeton, Oppenheimer, Citigroup, and BlackRock are set to guide Uzbek companies onto the international capital markets. BlackRock is also advising on the development of the Tashkent International Financial Center. The Kazakh business publication Kursiv notes the initial public offering (IPO) of the National Investment Fund, which previously raised nearly $700 million. According to Kursiv, Franklin Templeton is exploring further stock offerings by Uzbek state-owned companies. Other players include Amazon Leo in satellite communications, GE HealthCare in medical technology, and Valmont Industries in agriculture.
Critical Raw Materials: Processing Instead of Raw Export
Critical minerals form the core of the package. ReElement Technologies, Traxys, and Trafigura are entering the exploration, development, and supply chain sectors. Back in February, both countries had already signed a memorandum on raw material supply chains. According to UzDaily, Tashkent aims to establish a complete value chain within the country, from the deposit to the high-tech product. Traxys CEO Mark Kristoff confirmed this direction, according to Kursiv: processing raw ores domestically using U.S. technology instead of exporting them as raw materials. “The U.S. is prioritizing critical minerals and logistics in Central Asia,” Uzbek economist Norpulat Daniyarov told the Times of Central Asia.
Notably, the reverse is also true: According to UzDaily, the Uzbek AKFA Group is investing $80 million in a plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It would be the first production facility operated by an Uzbek company in the U.S. Added to this are energy projects, such as small modular reactors, power grids, and data centers for artificial intelligence. Education is also part of the package: The Colorado School of Mines supports the extraction and processing of critical raw materials, while the University of Texas at Dallas is collaborating with the Quantum Center in Samarkand.
A gap remains between commitment and payment
The $12 billion is part of a series of much larger announcements. According to UzDaily, Sergio Gor, the U.S. Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, cited infrastructure, critical raw materials, and aerospace as priorities. In November 2025, following a meeting with Mirziyoyev, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Uzbek purchases and investments in the U.S. totaling nearly $35 billion over three years, and more than $100 billion over ten years. Implementation has lagged behind the figures. In September, Investment Minister Laziz Kudratov put the value of the commercial contract portfolio with the U.S. at $35 billion; however, according to the Times of Central Asia, only projects worth $7 billion had been finalized. Even with the new package, it remains unclear what portion has been financed and what portion exists only as a letter of intent.
One obstacle lies in Washington: The Jackson-Vanik Amendment, dating back to the Soviet era, continues to deny Uzbekistan permanent normal trade relations. When asked about lifting the amendment, Rubio replied succinctly in Samarkand: “You’ll have to ask Congress.” For the region, however, the message is clear. Washington is investing capital and technology in Central Asia’s raw materials and logistics sectors, and Tashkent is using this as leverage for its industrialization. Both sides are already planning a joint economic program through 2035. Rubio put it this way: “This is not the end; this is the beginning.”
Source: Kursiv Uzbekistan, Times of Central Asia, UzDaily, Euronews, Spot.uz (all EN)