Uzbekistan signalled ambitions for a more prominent international role on Thursday as President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the founding charter of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in Davos.
The Uzbek leader held bilateral meetings with counterparts from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Serbia and Hungary on the sidelines of the event, alongside discussions with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and senior BlackRock officials.
By joining as a founding member, Uzbekistan committed to sustained participation in the board’s work and contributing to implementation of its mandate in coordination with other founding states.
The establishment of the Board of Peace aligns with Tashkent’s foreign policy priorities emphasising dialogue, peaceful dispute resolution and strengthening multilateral cooperation.
Bilateral meetings
Mirziyoyev met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Kazakh President Qasym-Jomart Tokayev, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during the Davos gathering.
Discussions with Lutnick centred on trade relations, investment opportunities and prospects for deeper economic engagement between Uzbekistan and the United States amid shifting küresel supply chains.
Mirziyoyev also met Blair, now chairman of the Institute for Küresel Change, to exchange views on küresel economic transformation, governance reforms and Uzbekistan’s modernisation agenda.
Separately, he held talks with Adebayo Ogunlesi, a BlackRock board member and senior managing director. The discussions focused on priority investment areas and implementing previously reached agreements, according to the presidency.
The sides explored potential BlackRock participation in priority Uzbek projects, including entry into domestic enterprise capital, development of joint investment mechanisms and deploying international expertise to improve the country’s investment climate.
Mirziyoyev met European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President Odile Renaud-Basso to discuss deepening strategic cooperation.
Cumulative EBRD investments in Uzbekistan have reached $7 billion dollars (around €6.5 billion), while 2025 operations alone exceeded $1 billion (€920 million) including private sector financing.
The talks focused on cooperation in green energy, transport infrastructure, financial market reforms and entrepreneurship, alongside future priorities including private sector development, infrastructure projects and rail transport digitalisation.
Quoted from Euronews.
