Uzbekistan's Foreign Investor Council Grows to 85 Firms

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Membership in Uzbekistan's Foreign Investor Council has jumped from 54 to 85 companies in a single year, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced Tuesday, as the body convened its latest session under the chairmanship of the head of state.

The council now spans 23 sectors of the national economy and operates through dedicated thematic working groups. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Asian Development Bank, and the International Finance Corporation all sit on its Executive Committee — a composition that underscores the platform's institutional weight.

"The activity of all members of our Council is constantly growing. This is clear evidence of the high level of trust in this investment platform," Mirziyoyev said, opening the session. He also thanked EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso for her consistent support of Uzbekistan's reforms and effective stewardship of the Council.

The session arrived with an unusually dense agenda: 120 new proposals and initiatives had been submitted in preparation, subsequently consolidated into seven priority tracks — investment climate, taxation, cadastre, energy, banking and finance, corporate governance, and artificial intelligence and the digital economy.

Mirziyoyev was direct about translating past council recommendations into law. Following last year's session, 21 initiatives produced concrete government decisions. Among the legislative changes that followed: amendments to the Tax Code improving conditions for investors, the removal of financial monitoring requirements on domestic intercompany debt transactions, the introduction of accelerated depreciation rights for fixed assets, and the lifting of several mandatory reporting requirements for foreign firms already filing under international accounting standards.

A draft law on Alternative Investment Funds has also been developed, alongside a program to implement responsible business conduct standards and align 16 technical regulations with international norms.

Perhaps the most significant signal of Uzbekistan's institutional ambitions came with the announcement of the country's accession to the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. A Constitutional Law on the Tashkent International Financial Centre is expected to follow as a logical next step.

Mirziyoyev highlighted several proposals he described as having "higher relevance than ever" — among them simplifying foreign currency transaction monitoring procedures, introducing new financial instruments including Islamic insurance products, green lending, and a bank asset market, and incentivizing ESG principles across the corporate sector.

Working group co-chairs from Vision Invest, BDO, Crowe, OTP Group, Franklin Templeton, Ernst & Young, Kosta Legal, and ACWA received personal acknowledgment from the President for their contributions.

More than 50 investor meetings were held through working groups over the past year alone, covering priority issues from pledge legislation and tax administration to land allocation and energy policy.

Closing the session after hearing investor feedback, Mirziyoyev signaled that all proposals raised would be consolidated into a unified roadmap. "I was especially pleased by your proposals focused on practical results," he said. "Your contribution to building an open, sustainable, and competitive economy in New Uzbekistan is always of great importance to us."