Nikolai Podguzov highlights Uzbekistan’s high investment potential at the AIIB Annual Meeting
Samarkand, 26 September 2024. Nikolai Podguzov, Chairman of the Management Board at the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), spoke at the Annual Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Samarkand during the session titled New Uzbekistan – Big Country with Big Opportunities. The session was attended by Laziz Kudratov, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade, and Jin Liqun, President of AIIB. In his presentation, Nikolai Podguzov emphasised Uzbekistan’s important and growing role as one of the region’s largest economies and stressed the need for cooperation among multilateral development banks (MDBs) to effectively use resources and address global and regional challenges.
He noted that Uzbekistan understands all these challenges and has immense investment and economic potential to turn them into opportunities. In recent years, the country has become a “growing hub of opportunities” and is undertaking sweeping reforms under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Nikolai Podguzov focused on “glocalisation” (the localisation of global challenges), a new conceptual approach, noting that it is crucial to consider the unique characteristics and needs of Central Asia when addressing global issues.
He highlighted three key challenges for the region: the need for sustainable and rapid economic growth, better connectivity and access to water.
“The global challenge of sustainable economic growth is particularly relevant for Central Asia. But, for Central Asia, the goal is to achieve not only sustainable but also rapid growth. It is needed to shorten the income gap with rich countries,” Nikolai Podguzov emphasised.
He pointed out that Central Asia is a region where all five countries are landlocked, with Uzbekistan being a double-landlocked country. In this context, he mentioned the concept of the Eurasian Transport Network developed by the EDB, emphasising that linking the East–West and North–South transport corridors could create synergies, potentially boosting the region’s freight traffic by up to 40%.
In addition, Nikolai Podguzov addressed the issue of water access, highlighting that Central Asia loses 40% of its irrigation water annually due to filtration losses and over 50% of its drinking water in distribution networks. “Modernising irrigation systems and implementing water-saving technologies are key,” he added.
“Uzbekistan’s economy is growing at an average rate of 5%, which is much faster than most of the world’s nations and emerging economies. The number of companies with foreign capital has nearly tripled. These figures show Uzbekistan’s growing economic appeal. The largest population in the region provides a solid foundation for rapid industrial growth,” he said.
In conclusion, Nikolai Podguzov expressed the EDB’s readiness to collaborate with the AIIB and other MDBs, outlining seven promising areas for MDB cooperation: mobilising capital, capital markets, promoting local currency financing, project expertise, joint research projects, joint or coordinated technical assistance and joint implementation of cross-border projects.
“Should MDBs cooperate and why? To put it simply, our institutional position on MDB cooperation is the following: it is very much needed and there is no alternative to it. The economic development of Uzbekistan and other countries in the region requires constructing large infrastructure projects – hydropower plants, roads and plants. Not a single financial institution would finance a multi-billion project alone. Development institutions should jointly mobilise financial resources for such projects,” Nikolai Podguzov concluded.
Additional Information:
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is a multilateral development bank investing in Eurasia. For more than 18 years, the Bank has worked to strengthen and expand economic ties and foster comprehensive development in its member countries. The EDB's charter capital totals US $7 billion. Its portfolio consists principally of projects with an integration effect in transport infrastructure, digital systems, green energy, agriculture, manufacturing and mechanical engineering. The Bank adheres to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and ESG principles in its operations.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank that provides sovereign and private financing for transport, telecommunications, energy and other infrastructure projects. Established at China’s initiative, the AIIB began operations in 2016 and is headquartered in Beijing.
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