Foreign-invested firms in Uzbekistan near 18,000 as Chinese companies lead

The number of enterprises with foreign investment in Uzbekistan continues to grow. As of December 1, the country had 17,900 such companies.

According to a report by the National Statistics Committee, the number of foreign-invested firms increased by 305 in November alone (+1.7 percent), including 281 new subsidiaries of foreign companies and 28 joint ventures. Year-on-year growth totaled 2,450 firms, or nearly 16 percent.

China remains the leader in terms of the number of foreign-invested companies, with 4,873 firms, or 27.2 percent of the total. Of these, 142 were created in the past month, while 1,501 were established over the past year.

Russian investors hold second place with 3,209 companies (17.9 percent). Their number grew by 32 in the last month, while year-on-year growth remained below 5 percent. Russia, however, maintains the leading position in joint ventures, with 909.

Turkey ranks third, with 2,109 companies (+19 compared with the previous month and +187 over the year). Kazakhstan follows with 1,199 firms, up 14 month-on-month and 101 year-on-year.

South Korea returned to the top five with 691 companies. Afghanistan accounts for another 637 firms.

The United Arab Emirates follows with 404 companies (+8 in a month), Tajikistan with 386 (+7), and India with 364 (+8). Azerbaijan moved into tenth place with 353 companies (+10), overtaking Kyrgyzstan (346) and the United States (336).

Most foreign companies operate in the trade sector, which now includes 6,403 firms. Another 3,700 are in manufacturing, including 1,400 joint ventures. In addition, 1,389 companies work in construction and 1,377 in IT services.