Uzbekistan is located on the ancient Silk Road, occupying a strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia. Uzbekistan's economy is one of the fastest growing in Central Asia: despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's GDP grew by 1.9% in 2020, with a subsequent rapid recovery to 7.4% in 2021, according to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan, which has a population of 35 million, represents a large market for a variety of goods and services, as well as providing access to markets in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and neighboring countries.
Uzbekistan has rich reserves of natural gas, gold, uranium, silver, copper and many other minerals. This provides many investment opportunities and ensures the macroeconomic stability of the country. The country has a young and skilled labor force and offers various tax and customs benefits, as well as conditions for cost-effective investment and trade.
Since 2017, Uzbekistan has undergone a new accelerated stage of development, with wide-ranging political and economic reforms that have resulted in a more open, market-oriented economy and a more favorable investment climate amid measures to privatize large state-owned enterprises.
The territory of Uzbekistan is a combination of plains and mountainous terrain. Most of the territory is plains, approximately 75% of the territory, but this part is made up of deserts, mountains and steppes, which are uninhabitable. However, the lands of Uzbekistan are rich in mineral resources. The country is one of the top ten countries in terms of reserves of important minerals such as copper, potash, phosphates, etc., and is one of the leading producers of gold, uranium and natural gas.
Uzbekistan is rich in mineral resources and precious metals, including gold, copper, lead, molybdenum, silver, tungsten and zinc. The most commonly mined minerals are copper, uranium and gold. More than 2,700 deposits and prospective ore occurrences of various minerals, including about 100 types of minerals, have been identified in the subsoil.
Uzbekistan has the world's largest open-pit gold mine Muruntau, which has huge deposits of turquoise and arsenic in addition to gold. Uzbekistan ranks 8th among the countries with the largest volume of gold production.
In 2021, the World Nuclear Association (WNA) provided a ranking of countries producing natural uranium, where Uzbekistan ranked 5th. At the same time, only one enterprise in the country is engaged in uranium mining and export - Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combine. The country has no nuclear industry of its own and exports all low-enriched uranium produced.
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