Speech by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Investors

(June 11, 2025, Tashkent city)

Dear meeting participants!

Dear Mrs. Odile Renaud-Basso!

I am very glad to meet you at the next meeting of the Council of Foreign Investors.

Yesterday at the International Investment Forum we discussed in detail the issues of further development of our economy, areas of strategic importance.

Today we will consult with you about exchange of experience, implementation of your specific projects, new initiatives and proposals.

Our friendly communication in this format is distinguished by practical results and makes an invaluable contribution to the implementation of new projects.

Our previous meetings are already bearing fruit. Here I want to give a few examples.

We switched to a completely new format of working with international financial organizations and introduced a system of effective cooperation aimed at specific results. Last year, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development invested a record amount in Uzbekistan - about $1 billion. Our country has become the bank's largest partner in the region.

We undoubtedly highly appreciate Ms. Renaud-Basso's great contribution to such achievements. Once again, I express my gratitude to you.

Collaboration between international financial institutions and the private sector has also increased significantly, with direct investment in a number of leading enterprises. In particular, the annual volume of joint projects between private companies and banks exceeded $1 billion.

One ​​more direction. I would like to highlight that the companies participating in our meeting today have launched new projects in such advanced areas as green energy, waste recycling, energy storage, green hydrogen production.

Leading companies such as Acwa Power, Masdar, Linde, Shanghai Environment and Total Energies, having invested more than $8 billion, are making a great contribution to development of a “green” economy.

Reputable world-famous companies are also actively entering the digital technology sector in our country. It is pleasant to note that the DataVolt company has launched projects to create the largest “green data center” in the region, and Veon has launched projects to create a mobile super application based on artificial intelligence.

Such projects will undoubtedly serve as a solid foundation for the future.

Many more such examples can be given.

I consider this a clear manifestation of the high confidence of foreign investors in our reforms and openness policy.

The International Finance Corporation, Ernst & Young, Dentons, Knauf and TBC, members of our Council, have made a number of proposals to further improve national legislation based on international standards. Your new initiatives and ideas are reflected in more than 10 of our laws, decrees and resolutions.

In general, the activity of investors operating in our country has increased; over the past two years, 5.5 thousand new enterprises have been created with the participation of foreign capital. Their total number has reached 16 thousand.

Dear friends!

We prepared for today's meeting in a completely different way. We communicated with each individual foreign enterprise and selected more than 40 initiatives from the received ones. Investors made proposals, in particular, to ensure the sustainability of tax legislation, increase the number of laws of direct effect, and the share of the private sector in infrastructure.

Of course, we will definitely take them into account and seriously work on each with members of the Council. We have announced that basic business tax rates will remain unchanged until 2028. This year, nearly $4.5 billion in public-private partnership projects were launched in the areas of roads, transport, energy, water supply and irrigation. Regulatory documents are being developed for the transition to international financial reporting standards and the introduction of environmental, social and corporate governance.

Many applications have been received for connection to electrical networks. In this regard, of course, we need to use the most advanced foreign experience. I propose to create a separate working group under our Council and develop specific mechanisms.

Based on the proposals received, additional working groups will be created to improve the legislation on collateral, train professional personnel for foreign companies, improve corporate governance in local companies, tax administration.

At the last meeting, we created working groups on the most pressing areas of the agenda - digitalization, responsible management business and alternative investments. Today we will take a look at their presentations.

Another important question. Over the past year, the work of our Council has sharply intensified. At the same time, the Secretariat of the Council works directly not only with the Ministry of Investment, but also with other ministries and departments, international organizations and investors. It would be advisable to increase the independence of the Secretariat and reorganize it into a separate legal entity.

I would like to know your opinion on this.

Dear friends!

I am very pleased with our fruitful dialogue today. Frankly, I was looking forward to such bold and practical presentations.

Every suggestion and opinion will be considered in detail. Our government will adopt a separate “road map”.

I want to emphasize once again: we are building a New Uzbekistan - a country open to investors, free, stable and reliable.

We will consistently continue the irreversible reforms we have begun.

We urge you not only to invest in our country, but also to become true participants in the story of our success, an integral part of the great future that we are creating.

We believe that thanks to our joint aspirations and efforts, each project will become a shining example of our fruitful cooperation.

I wish you all great success on this noble path.

Official website of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan