Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting in Samarkand on October 19 with Jenny Johnson, the president and CEO of the American asset management company Franklin Templeton. During the negotiations, the parties focused on the results of reforming major state enterprises in Uzbekistan and the intentions to attract additional investment through the stock market.
Franklin Templeton is actively involved in these processes: its division, Templeton Global Investments, manages assets for the National Investment Fund of Uzbekistan. This fund includes stakes in eighteen major banks and state enterprises that are undergoing a process of improvement to become more attractive to investors with the aim of gradual listing on the exchange.
One achievement of this work was the international initial public offering (IPO) of shares in the National Investment Fund of Uzbekistan. These shares were listed on both the Tashkent and London exchanges. This allowed for the collection of about $700 million, while demand for the shares exceeded the supply by more than four times.
The next stage planned is the transformation of companies included in the fund's portfolio. It was noted at the meeting that these transformations should contribute to increasing the well-being of residents and improving the quality and reliability of provided services. Special attention was paid to the need to expand opportunities for citizens to participate in future share offerings.
In addition, Mirziyoyev and Johnson discussed issues related to preparing large corporations for an IPO, raising the professional level of their management, as well as the possibility of Franklin Templeton participating in the activities of the Tashkent International Financial Center.