Uzbekistan signs 54 US deals worth nearly $12bn during Rubio visit
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The gist
Uzbekistan announced 54 agreements and projects with US partners worth nearly $12bn during Marco Rubio's visit.
The deals follow a Chinese premier's trip days earlier, as both powers court Central Asia.
Background
Shavkat Mirziyoyev is the president of Uzbekistan, and Marco Rubio is the US Secretary of State, who came to the city of Samarkand for C5+1 talks (a format bringing the US together with five Central Asian states). The visit came days after Chinese Premier Li Qiang toured Uzbekistan on 17-18 October, and the back-to-back trips highlight competition between the world's two largest economies for influence in Central Asia — China has a large presence in Uzbek manufacturing and energy, while Washington is pushing into critical minerals and technology.
How it unfolded
- Oct 17, 2026President Mirziyoyev received Chinese Premier Li Qiang; the presidential administration said joint projects backed by firm agreements reached nearly $60 billion, with more than 6,000 Chinese-linked joint ventures in the country.
- Oct 18, 2026US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Samarkand with a delegation of American business leaders for C5+1 talks.
- Oct 19, 2026Rubio met Mirziyoyev to discuss trade, energy, critical minerals, aviation and technology.
- Oct 20, 2026Uzbekistan's Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade announced 54 agreements and proposed projects with American partners worth nearly $12bn.
- Oct 23, 2026Mirziyoyev discussed nuclear plans with Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev, who said construction of large-scale nuclear units in Uzbekistan is planned to start in 2027; Uzbekistan and Germany also discussed deepening ties in 2027.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Mirziyoyev said of the American-Uzbek Business and Investment Council that Uzbekistan has "this kind of format with no other country of the world," and proposed preparing projects with land, infrastructure, permits and administrative requirements already in place, naming critical minerals, renewables, storage, data centres and AI as priorities.
- Official
- Rubio said Washington was not asking Central Asian countries to stop cooperating with other partners, but would instead compete for investment.
Still unverified
The $12bn total for the 54 agreements is "said to be" worth that amount, per Uzbekistan's Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade. The Uzbek presidency said bilateral trade rose 35% since the start of the year but did not specify the comparison period.