The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) plans to provide funding for several projects in Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Transport reported.
On October 7, Transport Minister Ilkhom Makhkamov met a JBIC delegation led by Hiroki Sekine, senior managing director and board member. The parties discussed expanding cooperation on transport-sector initiatives.
Sekine noted the Japanese bank’s growing interest in participating in projects in Uzbekistan in recent years. Over the next three years, JBIC plans to participate in financing 14 projects, two of which are related to the transport sector.
The meeting focused on the status of two projects: the construction of a new Tashkent airport and the supply of air traffic management systems for the UzAeronavigation centre.
The participants discussed the possibility of securing JBIC funding for both projects. Following the meeting, the parties agreed to accelerate joint transport initiatives and continue mutually beneficial cooperation on prospective projects.
New Tashkent airport
In October 2025, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed plans for a new international airport in Tashkent Region and officially launched construction by laying the foundation stone.
The private partners for the public-private partnership project were selected as Vision Invest of Saudi Arabia, Japan’s Sojitz and South Korea’s Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC). Their stakes in the international consortium will be distributed as follows:
- Vision Invest — 45%;
- Sojitz — 30%;
- IIAC — 15%;
- Uzbekistan Airports — 10%.
Once operational, the airport will be able to handle up to 20 million passengers and 129,000 tonnes of cargo annually, accommodate up to 30 take-offs and landings per hour, and park 62 aircraft simultaneously.
The future passenger terminal will be four times larger than the existing complex and could eventually serve 46 million passengers annually. More than 40 jet bridges and 160 aircraft parking stands are planned.
The new complex will be connected to the Tashkent-Samarkand, Tashkent-Andijan and Tashkent-Bostanlyk toll roads. A railway station for high-speed trains will also be built, and shuttle services between Tashkent and New Tashkent will be launched.
South Korean newspaper The Korea Herald reported that the new Tashkent International Airport is scheduled to open in 2029. IIAC will begin providing consulting services on the airport’s operation and maintenance in July 2027. According to the publication, the project is valued at 4.7 trillion won (approximately $3.3 billion).
At the Tashkent International Investment Forum in June 2026, the parties signed a consortium agreement to develop the new airport. It will be built in the Urtachirchiq and Kuyichirchiq districts of Tashkent Region between 2026 and 2030.
After the airport opens, the consortium will manage the passenger terminal and the forecourt for 35 years, approximately until 2065.
The first phase includes two 4-kilometre runways and 98 aircraft parking stands. The project also includes a 208,000-square-metre passenger terminal, a refuelling complex and an air traffic control tower.
On September 21, 2026, Mirziyoyev reviewed a presentation on transport-sector projects, which reported that preparations for the new capital airport’s construction site had begun. The following day, the president instructed officials to sign all agreements with the private partner, begin construction and set implementation deadlines.
The English version of this material was generated with the assistance of AI translation tools and may differ slightly from the original text.
