An interview with Uzbek Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov on U.S.-Uzbekistan economic relations.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, while attending the recent U.N. General Assembly in New York, met with American business leaders.

In 2024, total trade turnover between the United States and Uzbekistan reached $881 million, said Uzbek Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov in a recent interview with The Diplomat. Relations, he said, are increasingly characterized by “growing mutual trust and dynamic cooperation across all key sectors.”

One of those key sectors is critical minerals, which the Trump administration is keenly interested in. Uzbekistan reportedly possesses substantial reserves of tungsten, molybdenum, and other sought-after minerals.

Uzbekistan’s goal to expand relations, particularly in business and trade, with the United States fit within the country’s wider push to engage the world more broadly. After first applying for World Trade Organization (WTO) membership in 1994, Uzbekistan’s bid was effectively suspended in 2005. The effort was revived in 2020 and is nearing its conclusion, officials say.

“WTO membership,” Kudratov said, “is critically important for Uzbekistan as it represents a key step toward deeper integration into the global trading system.”

In the following interview, Kudratov provides an overview of U.S.-Uzbek trade relations, an update on the country’s WTO accession, and details on Uzbekistan’s critical mineral wealth and the recent deal with Boeing.