Uzbekistan is putting a multi-billion-dollar processing drive at the centre of its export strategy, combining government targets with company-level industrial plans to keep more of the value generated by agricultural goods, metals and minerals inside the country.
The push includes a $10bn (€8.8bn) food-processing ambition by 2030, a $4.2bn (€3.7bn) technological metals project pipeline and 880,000 tonnes of planned sheet-steel localisation. It also includes copper-processing agreements that one of the country's largest mining groups says could multiply profits.
The drive comes as Uzbekistan receives stronger signals from international credit markets. Moody’s Ratings upgraded the country’s sovereign rating to Ba2 from Ba3 in June, citing sustained improvements in its institutional and policy framework, as well as stronger economic and fiscal conditions.
With no direct access to the sea, Uzbekistan’s issue is no longer only how much it can produce, but how much it can earn from each shipment before goods leave the country.
Turning crops into income
