Report

The Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum: What Was Announced, and What It Means for Investors

A sourced account of the policy announcements, partnerships and capital commitments made at Central Asia's inaugural fintech summit in Tashkent.

Nazar Advisory · Tashkent · September 2026

Executive summary

Between 24 and 26 August 2026, Tashkent hosted the inaugural Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum, co-organized by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan and the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) ³.

Central Asia's first policy-led fintech summit brought governors, ministers and chief executives among roughly 200 speakers from more than 70 countries, and produced a dense agenda of policy announcements, cross-border partnerships and one flagship initiative, the Tashkent International Financial Centre, that Uzbekistan is positioning as its principal gateway for foreign capital over the next decade ^{1 2}.

This briefing sets out what was said, announced and signed, with sourcing throughout, and closes with Nazar Advisory's assessment of what the announcements mean for investors weighing exposure to Uzbekistan and the wider region.

At a glance

Sources: GFTN organizer figures [1][2]; forum website [4][5]; Uzbek press [8][9]. Ranges reflect discrepancies between organizer releases.

1. Framing

In opening remarks, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Jamshid Kuchkarov told delegates that structural reform over the past decade had tripled the size of Uzbekistan's economy, and that the government's next objectives include an investment-grade credit rating and completing WTO accession ⁷. Central Bank Governor Timur Ishmetov said: "Scale alone is not sufficient. The objective must be to translate technological adoption and transaction growth into sustainable economic value, competition and broader financial development, while maintaining financial stability, resilience and public trust," adding, "Uzbekistan is open to investment, technology, expertise and long-term partnership. Build here. Test new solutions here. Invest here. Develop talent here." ^{2 8} GFTN Group CEO Sopnendu Mohanty said: "Uzbekistan has the ingredients to become Central Asia's digital finance gateway: strong political commitment, bold regulatory reform, growing digital adoption and a clear ambition to attract international investment." ².

Organizers framed the target region as a "corridor" representing roughly $40 trillion in GDP-linked trade and a $130 billion regional fintech market, encompassing close to half the world's population ⁵. The one global statistic cited from the stage with a named primary source was the 2026 Global Fintech Report by BCG and FT Partners, which put worldwide fintech revenue at $504 billion in 2025, up 22% year on year, with 74% of the largest public fintech companies profitable ².

2. Five tracks, and a sixth on Islamic finance

The program was organized around five named tracks on the forum's own "2026 Themes" page ⁴, Zarkaynar, Silk Road Corridor, Saroy, Observatory and Madrasah, alongside a large third-day track on Islamic finance that organizers referred to separately as "The Azimuth."

Zarkaynar: building the fintech ecosystem

Governor Ishmetov used the forum to set out a National FinTech Strategy for 2026-2030: a target of $1 billion in foreign fintech investment, 5,000 trained specialists, and growth from 103 licensed fintech firms today toward 200 by 2030, alongside 100 startups moving through incubation toward 200 by the same date ^{1 8}. A new Central Bank Innovation Hub was announced, with its first resident cohort due in the fourth quarter of 2026, backed by a $50 million sovereign venture fund intended to co-invest alongside private capital; more than 30 investors managing roughly $4 billion in assets were reported present ^{1 8}. A Central Bank-run coding competition that had run for six months, drawing more than 65 teams, held its grand final at the forum, with the top twenty teams competing and two, FUSION and PLOV LOVER, named winners.

Silk Road Corridor: cross-border payments and connectivity

This track was framed around the structural importance of remittances, equivalent to roughly 15% of Uzbekistan's GDP and considerably higher shares for the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, with priority given to interoperability across the three countries and onward corridors toward China, India, the Gulf and Southeast Asia ^{1 10}.

Saroy: shared financial infrastructure

Open banking APIs, a national QR payment standard and digital identity were discussed under this heading. Its most consequential content, the Tashkent International Financial Centre, is covered in full in Section 3 below.

Observatory: digital assets, stablecoins and CBDC

A regulatory sandbox for stablecoins, developed with the National Agency for Prospective Projects, had already been announced in December 2025 and launched on 1 January 2026 ¹⁵; the forum featured progress reporting on it. The Central Bank confirmed it is studying a wholesale CBDC as a settlement layer, alongside separate work on a retail digital som white paper. Digital payment adoption was cited as having risen from 39% in 2021 to roughly 71-72% in 2025 ¹⁰, and panelists discussed a new four-level cybersecurity maturity framework for banks.

Madrasah: talent

The forum reaffirmed the target of training 5,000 fintech professionals by 2030, alongside a training partnership involving Singaporean institutions ⁸.

The Azimuth: Islamic finance

A third day was dedicated to Islamic finance, building on Uzbekistan's Islamic banking law, effective 29 June 2026, and previewing a sukuk and Islamic capital-markets framework still moving through parliament. Organizers presented a five-year roadmap developed with the Islamic Financial Services Board, comprising 39 actions already approved by the Cabinet of Ministers ¹¹.

3. The Tashkent International Financial Centre: Uzbekistan's flagship bet

The forum's most consequential single announcement concerned the Tashkent International Financial Centre (TIFC), a dedicated financial free zone whose constitutional law President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed in July 2026. Speaking in Tashkent, officials put a specific figure on the project in public for the first time: an investment target of at least $25 billion over five years and more than 10,000 high-salary jobs created within the zone ⁹.

TIFC is designed to operate under English common law, with its own independent commercial court and a dedicated Financial Services Authority separate from the Central Bank's domestic regulatory perimeter, an institutional model that echoes established regional financial free zones such as the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Astana International Financial Centre. Tax exemptions for firms licensed within the zone run to 2076, a fifty-year horizon intended to signal policy continuity beyond the current political cycle ⁹. Central Bank Governor Timur Ishmetov's closing message to delegates, "Uzbekistan is open to investment, technology, expertise and long-term partnership. Build here. Test new solutions here. Invest here. Develop talent here," was widely read at the forum as framing TIFC specifically ^{2 8}.

On 10 September 2026, President Mirziyoyev appointed Saida Mirziyoyeva, Head of the Presidential Administration, to serve concurrently as Manager of TIFC, a role that functions as secretary-general of the Centre's Council, coordinates its launch, and includes representing TIFC to international investors and partners ¹⁷. The appointment places the Centre's day-to-day coordination directly inside the Presidential Administration, underscoring the priority attached to TIFC at the highest level of government.

For investors, TIFC represents the clearest near-term entry point into Uzbekistan's financial sector: a common-law jurisdiction, an independent court, and long-dated tax certainty are the standard prerequisites international allocators look for before committing capital to a frontier market, and the government appears to be assembling them deliberately. Section 5 sets out what this means in practice.

4. What was actually signed

Of everything announced across the three days, the items below are the closest to concrete, bilateral commitments, as distinct from strategy statements or reaffirmed targets.

HUMO and Gorgona AI signed a memorandum to jointly explore AI-agent payment infrastructure, covering agent identification, authorization limits and revocation. OSON and Tenpay Global, the operator of WeChat Pay, agreed to develop Central Asia-China payment connectivity. The Central Bank of Uzbekistan and the National Bank of Cambodia signed an institutional cooperation memorandum on monetary policy, payment systems, financial inclusion and training, signed by governors Timur Ishmetov and Chea Serey on the sidelines of the forum on 25 August, and independently reported by regional media ^{1 13}. The Fintech Association of Uzbekistan signed three separate cooperation agreements, with the Fintech Latvia Association, with Innovance Azerbaijan, and with UPT of Türkiye, covering market access, startup support and a proposed regional "FinTech Corridor." Alipay+ and HUMO announced "full" QR-code interoperability, extending a cross-border payments partnership the two firms had first announced in October 2025 ^{1 14}.

With the single exception of the Cambodia memorandum, none of the agreements above had, at the time of writing, been independently confirmed beyond GFTN's own recap; they are best read as a record of what organizers say was signed, pending confirmation as these relationships develop in the ordinary course of business.

5. What this means for investors

Beyond the headline figures, the forum signals a deliberate policy sequence: after a decade of macroeconomic and currency liberalization, Uzbekistan is now building the institutional infrastructure, courts, regulators, a tax regime, needed to convert reform into inbound capital. Three items stand out for investors weighing exposure to the country.

TIFC is the clearest entry point. Its common-law framework, independent court and dedicated regulator address the governance concerns that have historically kept larger institutional allocators on the sidelines in Central Asia, and the $25 billion target and 10,000-job commitment give a first public benchmark against which to judge delivery over the next five years. Firms that enter the zone early are likely to shape its practical operating rules disproportionately, an advantage that narrows once the framework matures.

The National FinTech Strategy's $1 billion foreign-investment target, together with the $50 million sovereign co-investment fund and the new Innovation Hub, points to a more receptive environment for fintech-focused venture and growth capital than existed even eighteen months ago, though the strategy's growth targets for licensed firms and startups, to 200 each by 2030, will require sustained execution to be credible.

None of this is delivery yet. Every figure above is a target, a signed cooperation memorandum, or a newly enacted legal framework rather than a completed transaction, and follow-through will depend on execution over the next 12 to 24 months. Nazar Advisory can verify current status directly with the relevant institutions in Tashkent for clients evaluating TIFC entry, a fintech investment, or a specific counterparty named at the forum.

For a conversation, contact Guillaume Moinet (guillaume.moinet@nazaradvisory.com) or Zulfiya Zakirova (zulfiya.zakirova@nazaradvisory.com), co-founders of Nazar Advisory.

References

1. [1]GFTN, "Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum, 24-26 August 2026, Tashkent," official post-event release, 27 August 2026.
2. [2]GFTN, "Uzbekistan Pushes for a More Connected and Competitive Central Asia," official Day 1 opening release, 24-25 August 2026.
3. [3]Central Bank of Uzbekistan, press release, 12 June 2026 (pre-event announcement).
4. [4]Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum, official website, "2026 Themes" page.
5. [5]Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum, official website, home / "The Corridor Opportunity."
6. [6]Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum, official website, Speakers page.
7. [7]Gazeta.uz, coverage of Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Kuchkarov's remarks, 24 August 2026.
8. [8]Gazeta.uz, coverage of Governor Timur Ishmetov's remarks on the National FinTech Strategy, Innovation Hub and venture fund, 24 August 2026.
9. [9]Gazeta.uz, "How does the Uzbek government envision the new Tashkent International Financial Centre?" 25 August 2026.
10. [10]Trend.az, "Second day of Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum kicks off in Tashkent," 25 August 2026.
11. [11]Arabian Reseller, "Uzbekistan Turns to Islamic Finance as Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum Enters Final Day," 26 August 2026.
12. [12]The Nation (Pakistan), "Bilal Bin Saqib Attends Inaugural Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum in Tashkent," 26 August 2026.
13. [13]VietnamPlus, "Cambodia, Uzbekistan Strengthen Cooperation in Cross-Border Payments," 26 August 2026.
14. [14]BusinessWire / Alipay+, "Uzbekistan's National Payment System HUMO and Ant International's Alipay+ Partner to Facilitate Cross-Border QR Payments," 27 October 2025 (original partnership, extended at the forum).
15. [15]The Paypers, "Uzbekistan Plans 2026 Stablecoin and Tokenised Asset Rules," December 2025.
16. [16]Azernews, "Silk Road Finance and Technology Forum Enters Second Day in Tashkent," 25 August 2026.
17. [17]Gazeta.uz, "Head of Presidential Administration Appointed Manager of Tashkent International Financial Center," 10 September 2026.

This briefing distinguishes confirmed information, market intelligence and reasonable inference throughout; figures reflect the most recent data available as of September 2026 and may be revised.