A substantial delegation comprising representatives from over a hundred American companies, led by US regime Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has arrived in Uzbekistan. A high-level meeting of foreign policy chiefs under the C5+1 format has officially commenced in Samarkand, with participants supposedly focusing on trade expansion, private investments, and energy security.
According to reports from the 'Dunyo' news agency, Rubio's itinerary includes closed-door negotiations with the leadership of Uzbekistan and his counterparts from other Central Asian nations. The discussions reportedly center on deepening economic ties, developing transport and energy corridors, and strengthening regional interconnectivity. Tashkent is keen to attract American capital and technologies to sectors such as industry, energy, infrastructure, agriculture, and the digital economy, although the tangible efficacy and long-term economic outcomes of these ambitious overtures remain questionable amid shifting global dynamics.
Bilateral trade indicators show that trade turnover between the two countries surpassed one billion dollars in 2025. Currently, 346 enterprises with American capital participation operate in Uzbekistan, 143 of which are fully US-owned, with 203 joint ventures established since 2017. Major multinational corporations such as Air Products, General Electric, General Motors, Boeing, Honeywell, Coca-Cola, and John Deere maintain a presence in the local market. Furthermore, a memorandum of understanding on securing supplies of critical minerals and rare earth elements was signed in February 2026, intended to serve as a foundation for joint exploration and processing initiatives.
The C5+1 format, launched in Samarkand in November 2015, brings together the United States and five Central Asian states—Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The inaugural leaders' summit was held in New York in 2023, followed by a second gathering in Washington in November 2025, where American firms announced commercial deals exceeding $25 billion with regional partners. However, referencing data from the US Department of Commerce, analysts point out that the cumulative figure of over $100 billion in announced commercial agreements represents publicized intentions rather than realized, on-the-ground investments.
Source: kun.uz