Since Donald Trump’s return to power, the US has courted five former Soviet republics in Central Asia and moved to increase its influence in a region where Russia and China have traditionally held sway. file | Photo credit: AP
As US President Donald Trump moves to counter China’s dominance of key resources and their supply chains, the US government has signed a deal with Uzbekistan to gain better access to the Central Asian nation’s vital minerals.
A “Joint Investment Framework” between the US International Development Finance Corp (DFC) and Central Asia’s most populous country aims to advance the two countries’ strategic cooperation, a summary of the plan from the DFC said.
It will prioritize investments across the key mineral value chain, including exploration, extraction and processing, and propose a new US-Uzbekistan joint investment holding company for future minerals and infrastructure projects, DFC’s plan said.
Uzbekistan’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since Donald Trump’s return to power, the US has courted five former Soviet republics in Central Asia and moved to increase its influence in a region where Russia and China have traditionally held priority.
Mr. Trump hosted his Uzbek rival Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the White House in November, along with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, and hosted a minerals summit earlier this month.
Mirziyoyev – who was in Washington on Wednesday for the inaugural meeting of Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ since taking office in 2016 – is continuing a program of economic reforms, as Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s second-largest economy, continues.
The nation of nearly 40 million people has significant reserves of gold, uranium and copper, as well as significant untapped reserves of dozens of critical minerals such as lithium and tungsten, which sit at the heart of modern technology. The deal with Uzbekistan also highlights DFC’s growing role in Trump’s strategy. It is already playing a key role in last year’s Ukraine minerals deal and is leading projects in several resource-rich African countries.
Uzbekistan’s reform will “encourage cooperation to advance shared economic interests and promote joint investment in strategic sectors including key minerals, infrastructure and energy,” DFC said in a statement on the agreement.
Published – February 19, 2026 04:52 am IST
