Turkey was recorded as the country that established the most companies in Uzbekistan last year, the data of Uzbekistan's State Statistics Committee showed.

According to the data, the number of companies with foreign capital reached 13,700 as of Jan. 1, with a total of 1,508 foreign capital companies operating in the country in 2021.

Turkey, which established 407 companies in Uzbekistan last year, ranked first among the countries that established the most companies with foreign capital. Turkey was followed by Russia with 356 companies and China with 266 companies. Last year, 209 companies with capital from Kazakhstan and 97 companies with South Korean capital were established in the country.

While companies with foreign capital were mostly established in country's capital of Tashkent and also Samarkand, Surhanderya and Fergana regions, foreign business people especially invested in industry, health, trade, information technologies, construction and agriculture sectors.

As of Jan. 1, the total number of foreign-owned enterprises in the country was 13,700. In this context, the number of companies with Russian capital was 2,309, and the number of companies with Chinese capital was 1,927. While the number of enterprises with Turkish capital was 1,882, the number of enterprises with capital from Kazakhstan was 1,067, and the number of companies with South Korean capital was 896.

In 2020, 1,490 enterprises with foreign capital were established in the country.

The close relations between Turkey and Uzbekistan are also reflected in the economic field. As a recent example of this, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was inked last year between two countries to enhance economic cooperation.