Saida Mirziyoyeva reviews strategic investment projects with French business delegation

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The Head of the Presidential Administration of Uzbekistan, Saida Mirziyoyeva, hosted an executive session with a high-level delegation representing leading French business circles, spearheaded by Claude Imauven, the Chairman of the France–Uzbekistan Business Council at MEDEF International and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Orano.

During the top-level dialogue, the two sides thoroughly reviewed long-term strategies for broadening mutually beneficial commercial cooperation across several core industrial vectors. Strategic infrastructure priorities for incoming French capital and engineering solutions include advanced energy networks, higher education development, public water management systems, and smart urban transport frameworks.

According to Saida Mirziyoyeva, the roundtable served as an immediate operational continuation of the constructive diplomatic consensus reached during recent top-level engagements with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The meeting highlights France's rapidly growing footprint in the Uzbek economy following the elevation of bilateral ties to a strategic partnership. The joint economic portfolio remains highly active; in the energy sector alone, French multi-nationals—including EDF, TotalEnergies, and Voltalia—are currently executing or preparing projects valued at over US$4 billion, targeting high-efficiency combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT) and large-scale solar and wind storage complexes.

Concurrently, the presence of Claude Imauven underscores ongoing mining and geological exploration joint ventures through Nurlikum Mining—a joint venture between Orano and the state-backed Navoiyuran—which is heavily invested in expanding the extraction and processing of uranium fields in the Kyzylkum region.

While specific financial figures and signed corporate contracts were not made public at the conclusion of the session, both parties affirmed their intention to hold targeted expert-level consultations to accelerate the implementation of the discussed infrastructure initiatives.