Rubio's remarks at American-Uzbekistan Business and Investment Council meeting
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**Rubio’s remarks at the American-Uzbekistan Business and Investment Council meeting**
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington has overlooked Central Asia for too long and wants to be a durable partner to the region, speaking at the second meeting of the American-Uzbekistan Business and Investment Council on Monday evening.
At the meeting, Rubio said U.S. foreign policy has long been dominated by crises and problems, and that Washington must be able to handle urgent matters without losing sight of opportunities. He said Central Asia, and Uzbekistan in particular, is a region the United States should have engaged with earlier and more deeply.
Rubio said the change started a decade ago and has picked up speed under President Donald Trump, who hosted a summit at the White House last year, named Sergio Gor as special envoy, and invited several countries from the region, including Uzbekistan, to attend the G20 in the United States as observers. He said he hoped his visit also demonstrated how much importance Washington places on the relationship.
He credited President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s reforms with making the progress possible, saying the president had opened the country to the world and welcomed the United States and Trump as partners. As sovereign and independent nations, Rubio said, the two sides should concentrate on areas where their national interests overlap, so that what helps one also helps the other.
Rubio highlighted Uzbekistan’s geography and growth as key factors behind that opportunity. He said the country’s airports handled 15.5 million passengers last year, up 15 percent, while cargo volumes increased 12 percent to 98,200 metric tons. He added that investors are attracted by its central location, large working-age population, abundant resources and potential in technology and infrastructure.
He pointed to cooperation already underway, including work with the Colorado School of Mines on critical minerals, Boeing’s sale of 22 widebody 787 Dreamliners to Uzbekistan Airways, and a quantum science partnership between the University of Texas at Dallas and the Samarkand Quantum Center. He said AKFA Group is investing $80 million in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which he described as the first Uzbek manufacturing operation in the United States.
Rubio said he believed people would later look back on the meeting as a turning point in relations.