BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 15. Uzbekistan’s National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity (UzNatsBank) and China International Capital Corporation (CICC) have agreed to arrange the issuance and listing of international bonds worth $250 million on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, marking the Uzbek bank’s first entry into Asia’s debt capital markets.
According to UzNatsBank, the agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 11th Belt and Road Summit during a high-level Uzbek delegation’s visit to Hong Kong on September 9–10.
The planned issuance will comprise bonds denominated in Chinese yuan and Uzbek soums, with a total value equivalent to $250 million. The deal is expected to broaden UzNatsBank’s access to Asian investors and diversify the bank’s funding sources and currency structure.
The agreement will also allow the bank to tap Asian capital markets to raise resources for financing priority investment projects in Uzbekistan.
The planned transaction builds on UzNatsBank’s previous activity in international capital markets. Since 2020, the bank has completed three bond issuances on the London and Vienna stock exchanges totaling $1.13 billion.
The new deal is also aligned with Uzbekistan’s 2026 State Investment Program, under which UzNatsBank is expected to attract up to $1.5 billion from leading international financial institutions to finance priority projects in the country.
The agreement with CICC comes amid expanding financial and investment ties between Uzbekistan and China. Bilateral trade turnover approached $18 billion last year, while the two countries have set a new target of increasing that figure to $30 billion in the coming years.
The portfolio of joint investment projects between Uzbekistan and China is estimated at around $60 billion, while more than 6,000 joint ventures involving the two countries operate in Uzbekistan.
Against this backdrop, the cooperation between UzNatsBank and CICC represents a further step toward expanding Uzbekistan’s presence in Asian capital markets and attracting longer-term financing for the country’s investment priorities.
