The Administration of the President and the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan reported the agreements reached, UzDaily writes.

The gist in brief

• 54 agreements have been signed, the implementation of which envisages the deployment of $12 billion.
• Among the sectors: critical minerals, industry, transport, energy, finance, digital technologies, agriculture, healthcare.
• Wabtec, BlackRock, Citigroup, Trafigura, Amazon Leo, GE HealthCare and other companies were named.
• Trade turnover between Uzbekistan and the US has grown by 35% since the beginning of the year.

What was signed

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan, the agreements cover industry, transport and energy infrastructure, critical minerals, the financial sector, digital technologies, agriculture, healthcare and education. The sum of $12 billion is the aggregate value of the arrangements, not a direct transfer of funds from the US budget. There is no breakdown by individual agreements.

Among the companies named:

• Wabtec - localization of railway equipment and component production in Uzbekistan;
• Franklin Templeton, Oppenheimer & Co., Citigroup and BlackRock - entry of Uzbek companies into international capital markets, attraction of institutional investors, infrastructure financing;
• ReElement Technologies, Traxys and Trafigura - study and development of critical mineral deposits, supply of raw materials;
• Amazon Leo - development of satellite communications;
• GE HealthCare - introduction of medical technologies;
• Valmont Industries - improving agricultural efficiency.

There is no full list of the 54 agreements, timelines and amounts for individual projects in open communications.

What else was discussed

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev received Marco Rubio, who conveyed greetings from US President Donald Trump. At the first meeting of the Expanded Strategic Partnership Dialogue, several documents were signed, including the Artemis Accords on the peaceful exploration of space. The remaining documents were not named in the Administration of the President's statement. Trade turnover between the two countries has grown by 35% since the beginning of the year.

The visit was also linked to the ministerial meeting in the "Central Asia - USA" (C5+1) format in Samarkand. Delegations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan participated in it. Trade, investment, transport, energy and digital infrastructure, and critical minerals were discussed. Uzbekistan announced its readiness to continue work during its co-chairmanship of the C5+1 secretariat.

What this means for Kazakhstan

The agreements cover technology, agriculture and raw materials, and projects in these same areas are underway here as well. In June, Kazakhstan became the first in Central Asia to join the US technology initiative Pax Silica: artificial intelligence, semiconductors, data centers and critical minerals. In Ekibastuz, Kazakhtelecom is building the "Data Center Valley", with the first facilities planned to be launched in early 2027.

In agriculture, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2019-2026 agricultural exports grew from $3.3 billion to $7 billion. For further growth, the Ministry of Agriculture plans by the end of 2028 to merge the industry's digital systems into a single platform, while agricultural machinery is produced by 40 enterprises.

On rare earth metals, geological exploration in 2024-2025 identified 935.4 thousand tonnes of inferred resources, which are not approved reserves. A regional research center for such metals is being discussed with the EU.

Author's conclusion

Behind the figure of $12 billion stand 54 agreements of varying size, and only a few companies and areas have been publicly named. What share of the sum will fall to critical minerals and when the money will start flowing has not yet been disclosed.