Central Asia has strong economic and investment potential and is interested in expanding cooperation with the United States, Sulton Rahimzoda, Chairman of the State Committee on Investment and State-owned Property Management (GosKomInvest), said on February 4 at the opening of the B5+1 Forum in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek.
The B5+1 Forum, focused on improving the business environment in Central Asian countries and strengthening cooperation between U.S. businesses and those of the region, reprotedly brought together representatives of government agencies, business communities and international organizations from Central Asia and the United States.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Rahimzoda highlighted the mutual interest of Central Asian countries and the U.S. in deeper and more effective engagement. He noted that the C5+1 format has proven to be an effective platform for practical cooperation.
“Central Asia, viewed as a region rather than as individual countries, possesses significant natural and infrastructure resources. The Central Asia–U.S. format is an important platform for close interaction, including administrative cooperation,” he said.
Rahimzoda also pointed to the region’s strong economic growth potential, abundant natural resources, substantial energy capacity, and favorable conditions for the development of agriculture, industry, transport and logistics.
According to him, the region’s young and rapidly developing human capital provides a solid foundation for expanding investment and trade cooperation with U.S. partners. At the same time, he stressed that fully unlocking Central Asia’s potential requires further improvements to the business environment and more active information exchange with international partners, including the U.S. business community.
The Tajik delegation to the B5+1 Forum also included representatives of the diplomatic corps, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, and the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
