President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in his opening remarks at the III Tashkent International Investment Forum, outlined priority areas for expanding cooperation with foreign investors.
As reported earlier, these include the extraction and processing of minerals, including rare earth metals, as well as the banking and financial sector.
Another are is the green energy. Shavkat Mirziyoyev underscored that the country was working on 28 energy projects.
“We have set a goal by 2030 to create more than 20 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity and increase its share in the energy balance to 40%,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Last year alone, Uzbekistan launched major wind and solar power plants with a total capacity of 1.4 GW with Masdar (UAE), Gezhouba and China Energy (China). Together with ACWA Power, the country has begun implementing a project to produce green hydrogen.
“It is noteworthy that these important projects are being implemented exclusively through foreign direct investment under the public-private partnership terms,” the president said.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev underscored that within the framework of the forum, the joint hydroelectric power stations projects in neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan would be presented to investors. He urged leading companies from all countries to dialogue and cooperation in this direction.
Earlier in mid-April it was reported that Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan would create a joint venture for the Kambarata hydroelectric power station project on the Naryn River. After the completion of the project, which is estimated at US$ 5-6 billion, the shares and assets of the station will become the property of Kyrgyzstan. In June 2022, construction began on the 140 MW Yavan hydroelectric power station on the Zarafshan River in Tajikistan.
The areas of cooperation also include the digital transformation of the country. The president underscored that over the year, Uzbekistan’s export of IT services and software products has doubled, and in the future it is planned to increase this figure to $5 billion.
“We expect to increase the number of residents of the IT park by 10 times, creating 100 thousand jobs. To attract foreign companies, an International Center for Digital Technologies is being set up at the IT park,” the head of state said.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev also announced the creation, together with Data Volt of Saudi Arabia, of a data center powered by “green” energy.
“We believe that this will serve as a powerful impetus for our country’s transition to a digital economy and the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies,” he said.
Another priority of Uzbekistan is the development of transport infrastructure.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that, together with potential foreign investors, projects are being prepared for the development of international airports in Tashkent, Bukhara and Urgench, as well as the construction of new ones.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev invited investors and international organizations to join Uzbekistan and foreign partners for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway projects.
“These strategic projects will radically change the geo-economic situation in the region, turning Central Asia into a global transit center connecting North and South, East and West,” he said.
At the end of his remarks, Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized: “The new Uzbekistan is a fair, secular, dynamically developing state, a country with enormous opportunities.”
He assured investors: “In the implementation of every initiative and every project, my team will be at your support, an will directly provide all the necessary assistance.”
