Loading…
Loading…
Two paired bilateral instruments operationalise US engagement with Uzbekistan's mineral-supply chain.
1. 4 Feb 2026 — State Department MoU. Intergovernmental MoU on Securing Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths, signed in Washington by Deputy Secretary Landau and Foreign Minister Saidov on the sidelines of the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial. Builds on (and supersedes) the 16 September 2024 Biden-era US-Uzbekistan critical-minerals MoU. Listed by the State Department as one of eleven founding FORGE bilateral instruments alongside Argentina, Cook Islands, Ecuador, Guinea, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, UAE, and the UK.
2. 18 Feb 2026 — DFC + EXIM Joint Investment Framework Heads of Terms. Signed in Washington at President Trump's inaugural "Board of Peace" meeting by DFC CEO Ben Black, EXIM Chairman John Jovanovic, Uzbekistan Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov, and Executive Director of the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan Shukhrat Vafaev, witnessed by President Mirziyoyev. The Heads of Terms outline: - A Joint Investment Framework prioritising critical-mineral value-chain investments (exploration, extraction, processing) plus infrastructure and energy. - A proposed U.S.–Uzbekistan Joint Investment Holding Company as the operational vehicle for joint investments. - A three-year Economic Cooperation Programme reportedly valued at up to USD 35 billion across critical minerals, energy infrastructure, aviation, and advanced technologies.
developing lithium and molybdenum production — material at the Central Asia level but not Tier-1 in global mineral-supply arithmetic.
a holding-company structure tied to a FORGE bilateral is distinct from the Japan/Saudi/Argentina templates that rely on offtake + subsidy mechanics. If the holding-company architecture works, it becomes a reusable template for further Central Asian engagement (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia).
Asian state, opening a strategic flank that complements the EU's separate Central Asia raw-materials partnerships.
(2025-03-07) gains an external commercial channel; the bilateral MoU and the domestic programme are complementary instruments.
Holding Company is the first DFC equity-vehicle structure tied to a FORGE bilateral and may be replicated for Kazakhstan / Mongolia engagements.
Asian mineral supply chains historically dominated by Russian/Chinese commercial relationships.
DFC's expanded USD 205bn authority, or via separate appropriations? Heads of Terms is non-binding; standing up an equity vehicle requires board approvals on both sides.
charter? Heads of Terms typically convert to definitive agreements within 6-12 months.
the DFC equity-vehicle template or revert to MoU-only structures?