Uzbekistan and Cyprus: What the 2026 Business Corridor Actually Looks Like

The business relationship between Uzbekistan and Cyprus has shifted from incidental to institutional within a short span of years. By end-2023, bilateral trade turnover had grown eightfold. In December 2024, the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry formally launched the Cyprus–Uzbekistan Business Association — the first dedicated bilateral body connecting the two countries’ commercial communities.

The Context Behind the Growth

Uzbekistan’s reform programme reshaped the country’s relationship with foreign capital after 2017. Currency liberalisation, tax simplification, SOE privatisation, and a markedly more open posture toward international business have produced an economy the World Bank confirms grew at 7.7% in 2025. Foreign investment deployed in Uzbekistan reached $43.1 billion in 2025 — equal to 31.9% of GDP. The EU signed an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Uzbekistan on 24 October 2025 in Brussels — the most ambitious bilateral framework concluded between the two sides. Against this backdrop, Cyprus, as an EU member state with deep experience in CIS-related cross-border structuring, occupies a naturally advantageous position.

The Business Association

Established under the CCCI, the Cyprus–Uzbekistan Business Association is designed to strengthen economic and trade relations, create matched partnerships, and build a networking platform spanning both jurisdictions. The CCCI President described its founding as marking a new era of bilateral engagement; the Uzbek Ambassador committed to exploring avenues of cooperation and building a durable economic and cultural exchange framework.

Sectors With Growing Activity

• Technology and digital services — Uzbek tech businesses accessing European markets and capital through Cyprus vehicles
• Commodities and trade flows — gold, metals, agricultural goods, and textiles structured through Cyprus entities
• Professional services — law, accounting, and consulting practices bridging Tashkent and Nicosia
• Energy and infrastructure — Cyprus-based structuring for Uzbek project finance, including renewables
• Personal wealth — Uzbek HNWIs using Cyprus for residency, family structuring, and EU mobility

The Outlook

Uzbekistan ranks among the fastest-growing economies in the Europe and Central Asia region, making it one of the most closely watched emerging markets in Europe’s immediate neighbourhood. Cyprus advisers who build genuine competence in the Uzbek market now will be positioned at the front when the corridor reaches full depth. Enalian Consulting approaches Uzbekistan as a relationship market, not a transactional one.