Expert: Uzbekistan becomes first Central Asian representative in New Development Bank

The Republic of Uzbekistan officially became a shareholder of the New Development Bank (NDB) on 5 June 2026. The country fulfilled the necessary requirements and ratified the NDB Articles of Agreement. This was announced by Director General of the NDB Eurasian Regional Centre Andrey Bokarev in an exclusive comment to TV BRICS.

Uzbekistan became the bank’s 10th member and, as the expert noted, the first representative of Central Asia, one of the world’s most dynamically developing regions. Between 2023 and 2025, Uzbekistan’s economy grew by an average of more than 6.7 per cent annually, while the country’s population increased by more than 1.5 million people.

According to Bokarev, the bank plans to explore opportunities and prepare its first projects in Uzbekistan as early as this year. Priority areas will include energy, water management, transport, municipal infrastructure, and social infrastructure.

“In developing cooperation with Uzbekistan, the NDB intends to make active use of its key strengths – steadily increasing financing in national currencies, the possibility of applying national procurement procedures and environmental risk assessment mechanisms, as well as efficiency in project preparation and implementation,” said Andrey Bokarev.

The law on Uzbekistan’s accession to the Agreement on the New Development Bank was signed by President of the Republic Shavkat Mirziyoyev on 21 May this year. The text of the law was published on the portal of the country’s National Centre for Legal Information. Senators noted that the primary objective of the agreement with the NDB is to expand trade, economic, and investment ties among participating states through investment activities.

Earlier, Chair of the NDB Board of Governors Anton Siluanov named Uzbekistan among the countries whose accession was under consideration. NDB President Dilma Rousseff stated that the bank is beginning work on a new five-year strategy, with particular attention to new member countries.

The New Development Bank was established in 2015 at the initiative of the BRICS countries to mobilise resources for infrastructure projects. To date, the NDB has approved 139 projects worth almost US$43 billion. In addition to the five founding members – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bangladesh, and Algeria have joined the bank in recent years.