Syrdarya Region to Attract $2 Billion in Foreign Investment in 2026

By 2026, Syrdarya Region plans to attract $2 billion in foreign investment, comparable to the total foreign investment volume over the previous ten years. This was announced by Erkinjon Turdimov, the regional governor, at the "Do Business in Syrdarya" international investment forum, which was held in Gulistan to coincide with the 35th anniversary of Uzbekistan's independence.

According to the governor, $8 billion has been invested in the region over the past decade, over $2.5 billion of which was foreign capital. This year, foreign investment reached $2 billion, 2.2 times higher than last year and approaching the amount accumulated over the previous ten years.

Turdimov also noted that some investors who attended last year's forum as guests have already hosted the forum this year. Among them were Lianghe Grade Agro, Tavsid General, Wuzong Energy, FM World, Lesso, and OTR Group. More than 30 delegations and over 300 foreign guests from nearly ten countries, including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, participated in the forum.

Over the past year, 30 projects worth a total of $1.5 billion were developed in the region's industrial zones, covering an area of 420 hectares. The governor identified metallurgy, energy, agriculture, textiles, chemicals, mechanical engineering, construction materials production, IT, electrical engineering, and rare metal mining as priorities for further cooperation.

Speaking about national indicators, Turdimov reported that by the end of 2025, the volume of foreign investment attracted to the economy of Uzbekistan would reach $43.1 billion, GDP would exceed $145 billion, and exports would total $33.4 billion. The goal for 2026 is to increase GDP to over $180 billion, and exports to over $40 billion. The president also set a goal to increase the economy by over $240 billion over the next five years.

Among the business support measures, the khokim cited the abolition of the requirement to submit 120 types of documents and convert them into digital format, the introduction of a three-year moratorium on inspections of small businesses that do not pose a threat to public health or the interests of other entrepreneurs, and an increase in the threshold for transitioning to value-added tax from 1 billion to 5 billion soums. According to Turdimov, this will create additional benefits for nearly 600,000 small businesses. Online loans of up to 5 billion soums have been introduced for aspiring entrepreneurs.

The governor also announced the conclusion of preferential trade agreements to expand foreign trade: with Jordan for 150 types of products, with Pakistan for 88 types, and with Iran and Afghanistan for 34 types each. A mutual duty-free trade regime for manufactured goods has been introduced with Turkmenistan.