Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took the stage at the annual Tashkent International Investment Forum on Wednesday, pledging to press ahead with economic reforms and announcing the creation of a new international financial hub in the country’s capital.
“We are always open to investors interested in cooperating with Uzbekistan and ready for an equal and mutually beneficial partnership,” Mirziyoyev told the audience in his opening remarks.
The centerpiece of his announcement was the Tashkent International Financial Center — a zone that would operate free of taxes and customs duties and function under English common law.
“Profit tax, value-added tax, property tax, and customs duties will be set at zero percent. Free capital movement and the ability to make payments in any currency will be guaranteed unconditionally. A modern system for financial technologies, digital assets, and green finance will be created,” Mirziyoyev said.
He also revealed that an independent financial regulator, empowered to issue its own regulatory rules, would be established within the new center.
Uzbekistan is Central Asia’s most populous nation, home to nearly 40 million people, and posted impressive economic growth of 7.7% in 2025. The country’s economy has been strengthened by its young and expanding population as well as elevated gold prices — Uzbekistan ranks among the world’s significant gold-producing nations.
Earlier this year in May, a package of minority stakes in state-owned companies was listed on the London Stock Exchange, marking the country’s largest initial public offering since 2021.
Mirziyoyev, who came to power in 2016, has worked to dismantle the capital controls that restricted economic growth under his predecessor, Islam Karimov, though he has maintained firm control over the country’s political landscape.
