President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan has signed a decree establishing the US-Uzbek Business and Investment Council, according to an official statement on the president’s website. The council’s members will be approved, and its operational regulations overseen, by Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the presidential administration.
The council will prioritise coordinating large-scale trade and investment projects and plans to create an investment fund to attract additional capital into Uzbekistan’s economy. Key investors may include the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) alongside global financial institutions. The organisation will also oversee strategic and infrastructure development projects.
In addition, the council will examine measures to lower mutual tariffs, promote IT products and services from companies in the IT Park, and explore ways to diversify the country’s investment portfolio, including using part of the Central Bank’s foreign currency reserves.
Starting next year, the Uzbek embassy in the United States will appoint a new position, a trade and investment counsellor, responsible for implementing projects across both countries.
Kursiv also reports that Uzbek company Akfa has begun building a new manufacturing plant in the US state of Kentucky. The total investment in the project is estimated at $600 mln.
