Uzbekistan Joins New Development Bank as First Central Asian Member

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan has become the first Central Asian country to join the New Development Bank, completing its accession on June 5 and gaining access to a multilateral lender that has approved $43 billion in projects since its founding.

The confirmation came from Andrey Bokarev, Director General of the NDB's Eurasian Regional Centre, speaking to TV BRICS. Uzbekistan formally completed the accession process following the ratification of the Bank's Articles of Agreement, becoming the institution's tenth shareholder.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the accession law on May 21, 2026, with the Senate having previously noted that membership would expand Uzbekistan's trade, economic, and investment cooperation with fellow member states through joint project implementation.

The timing reflects Uzbekistan's sustained economic momentum. Bokarev noted that the country's economy grew at an average rate of more than 6.7% annually between 2023 and 2025, while its population increased by more than 1.5 million people over the same period — figures he cited to underscore Central Asia's status as one of the world's most dynamically developing regions.

The NDB said it intends to begin exploring cooperation opportunities with Uzbekistan and preparing initial joint projects before the end of this year. Priority sectors identified include energy, water resource management, transport, utilities, and social infrastructure — a broad mandate that maps closely onto Uzbekistan's infrastructure investment gaps and its ambitions under the Digital Uzbekistan–2030 strategy.

The bank plans to deploy its core support instruments in the partnership, including expanded financing in national currencies, application of national procurement procedures, environmental risk assessment mechanisms, and accelerated project preparation and implementation cycles — terms that could significantly reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing compared with traditional multilateral channels.

The New Development Bank was established in 2015 on the initiative of the BRICS nations to finance infrastructure projects and sustainable development programmes. Beyond its five founding members — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — it now counts Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Algeria, and Uzbekistan as shareholders. NDB President Dilma Rousseff has previously stated that the bank's new five-year strategy will place particular emphasis on new member states, a signal that Tashkent's entry comes at a strategically advantageous moment.