Uzbekistan Bets on Reforms to Win More Foreign Investment

Uzbekistan is using the Tashkent International Investment Forum 2026 to court foreign capital with privatization, digitalization and market reforms. The country’s strong growth and lower inflation are giving investors reasons to take the push seriously, but the bigger test is whether Tashkent can turn interest into real projects.

Why it matters: - Uzbekistan is trying to position itself as Central Asia’s investment hub by pairing growth with reforms that investors can verify. - The country’s success will shape how much capital flows into privatization, energy, logistics, agriculture, manufacturing and digital infrastructure. - The broader regional competition for investment and trade routes makes Uzbekistan’s reform pace a test case for Central Asia.

What happened: - The Tashkent International Investment Forum 2026 is expected to take place in June in Tashkent. - The forum is designed to bring investors into specific projects, including B2B and B2G meetings and deal-making. - Alona Lebedieva, owner of Aurum Group, said Uzbekistan’s mix of macroeconomic stability and institutional change is building trust among international businesses.

The details: - Uzbekistan’s GDP grew 8.7% in the first quarter of 2026. - The Central Bank raised its 2026 growth forecast to 7% to 7.5%. - Inflation slowed to 7.1% in March, while core inflation was 5.7%. - The year-end inflation forecast is around 6.5%. - UzNIF has been listed on the London and Tashkent stock exchanges. - Uzbekistan has also launched a program to reduce bureaucracy, is working on pre-trial dispute settlement with investors, and is pushing digital public services. - The non-observed economy made up 22.9% of GDP in the first quarter of 2026. - By 2030, Uzbekistan plans to raise the share of cashless payments in trade and services to 75%. - Starting in 2026, some transactions are being moved gradually to cashless formats. - Uzbekistan’s public debt stood at about $47 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2026. - Almost $40 billion of that debt was external. - The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank remain among the biggest creditors.

Between the lines: - The forum is only part of the story. The bigger signal is whether Uzbekistan can make reforms feel durable, predictable and enforceable. - Investors typically care less about speeches than about how fast permits move, how disputes are handled, and whether rules stay stable over time. - A smaller shadow economy and wider digital payments would give the government, banks and formal businesses more visibility and control. - Lebedieva framed Uzbekistan’s challenge as converting political declarations into functioning institutions and completed projects. - For Ukraine, the example shows how a country can pitch investors on a full reform story, not just isolated sectors.

What’s next: - Uzbekistan will need to turn forum interest into signed projects after the June event. - The government will also need to remove bottlenecks inside ministries and local authorities. - Investors will watch whether digital procedures, capital protection and rule enforcement improve after the forum ends. - The next major benchmark will be whether reforms keep pace with the country’s economic growth and debt burden.

The bottom line: - Uzbekistan has momentum, but the real verdict will come from execution, not promises.