Tashkent International Investment Forum 2024: record number of participants, $26.6 billion worth of contracts signed
The Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF), initiated by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, was held for the third time in the capital’s conference centre on 2 and 3 May.
Tashkent International Investment Forum 2024
The event was dedicated to presenting opportunities in the country to foreign investors, expanding business contacts, and planning the implementation of new projects.
This year, the TIIF attracted a record number of participants: 2,500 delegates from 93 countries around the world. More than 40 events, sessions, roundtables, and presentations allowed participants to explore investment opportunities in Uzbekistan and the region.
The forum attracted the attention of international media and was covered by more than 110 foreign publications from 30 countries, including leading outlets such as CNN, Euronews, The London Post, and the Associated Press, as well as the editorial staff of Daily News Hungary and Helló Magyar.
The Forum has become a key platform for countries and companies interested in Central Asia, attracting 120 high-level government and corporate executives and representatives of influential international organisations such as the UN, EBRD, OPEC, and SCO. The Forum provided a unique opportunity to develop business contacts in promising sectors such as digital transformation, transport and logistics route development, infrastructure, and the green economy.
Opening speech by President Mirziyoyev
Well-known American reporter Richard Quest hosted the opening event on 2 May.
In his opening speech, President Mirziyoyev said that irreversible reforms in Uzbekistan and mutually beneficial cooperation had made the TIIF a highly attended conference. He stressed that decisive steps had been taken to fundamentally improve the investment and business environment, step by step, to remove obstacles. He added that comprehensive reforms have been implemented to ensure all entrepreneurs feel free and confident in Uzbekistan.
The Uzbek economy is going from strength to strength, and the numbers prove it:
“Our economy has almost doubled in recent years. Last year alone, the growth rate reached 6 percent, while inflation remained below 9 percent. Trade is growing steadily.”
He said Uzbekistan has seen significant growth in the energy, chemicals, construction, metallurgy, automotive and electrical engineering, and construction sectors. More than 300 investment and industrial projects have been launched with international investors, and hundreds of thousands of new jobs have been created.
President Mirziyoyev also said that a significant step had been taken in privatisation, with the parliament’s adoption of the law on privatisation. He also stressed that a new program had been adopted, including the sale of state shares in 250 large companies, the privatisation of 1,000 properties, and the listing of shares in 12 companies on the stock exchange.
President Mirziyoyev summarised the strategic directions in five points, and these are the areas where investors are welcome:
- “Green” energy – Expanding the energy sector is key to the prosperity of the entire region
- Banking sector – In recent years, a number of private banks have been established in Uzbekistan. Leading European banks have entered the Uzbek market (OTP acquired one of the largest Uzbek banks).
- Critical minerals – Uzbekistan is rich in minerals and critical raw materials: it has large reserves of gold, copper, tungsten, silver and uranium. Particular attention is paid to reserves of rare earth metals, including lithium, magnesium, molybdenum, germanium, vanadium and indium. Strategic cooperation has recently been established with the EU on critical minerals, but the US and the UK are also actively working to develop a framework for joint work.
- The country’s digital transformation – exports of IT services and software products have doubled in a year.
- Transport infrastructure development: Major reforms in the rail sector have opened up a wide range of opportunities for private investors. Joint projects are being developed to build toll roads and high-speed railways. The Uzbek government has started preparations with foreign partners to construct the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railways. The President said these strategic projects will fundamentally change the geo-economy of the region and will transform Central Asia into a global transit hub linking North and South, East and West.
Much effort will also be invested in upgrading the existing Tashkent, Bukhara, and Urgench international airports, and qualified foreign investors will participate in building new ones.
President Mirziyoyev concluded that New Uzbekistan is a rapidly developing, just, and secular country with enormous potential. He stressed that investment is the engine of transformation and the most vital driver of economic development in the country and thanked all government and corporate partners for their cooperation.
Other key events in TIIF
More than 40 events took place during the Tashkent International Investment Forum, including 31 interactive roundtable discussions, 7 exhibition sessions (pitch sessions to present projects to investors), 4 briefings, B2B meetings, and 3 intergovernmental committee meetings with Kyrgyzstan, the United Arab Emirates, and Azerbaijan. In addition, a presentation of regional energy projects, including the construction of Kambarota HPP-1 and Yovan HPP, was held with the participation of the Prime Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic to foreign investors.
The TIIF also hosted the second plenary meeting of the Foreign Investors Council under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The organisers offered a varied program, allowing speakers to exchange views on topics such as fintech in Uzbekistan, the attractiveness of the Central Asian region for foreign investors, water management, IT-PARK Uzbekistan, and the role of anti-corruption policies in attracting foreign investors.
The conference also featured a Hungarian participant, Mihály Varga, Minister of Finance, who took part in a panel discussion on “Coping with global economic change: strategies for resilience and growth” and said that Hungary is one of the most open economies in the world today, with an outstanding export performance for its size, a high investment rate, and a competitive tax system. Read more details here: Hungarian finance minister: Hungary among world’s most open economies.
Record contract signing
By the end of the Forum, a total of USD 26.6 billion worth of investment and export contracts had been signed. By comparison, in 2023, the Tashkent International Investment Forum facilitated the signing of 167 documents worth USD 11 billion.
Our photos:
You can read our coverage of the Forum in Hungarian: Helló Magyar