Sona Comstar expects growth in annual investments amid business expansion

According to the National Statistical Committee, investment in fixed capital in Uzbekistan increased by 20.1% compared to the previous year, reaching 584.2 trillion soums for the period from January to September 2026. A large part of these investments was provided by non-state financing, and production accounted for the largest share of capital expenditures.

The total volume of investment over the nine-month period amounted to 584 trillion 154.2 billion soums. Foreign investments and loans reached 33.9 billion US dollars, equivalent to approximately 408 trillion soums, and were directed towards creating new fixed assets.

Financing Structure

Non-state sources provided 518.6 trillion soums, which accounts for 88.8% of the total investment volume. This figure showed an increase of 17.6% compared to the same period in 2025. Centralized investments amounted to 65.6 trillion soums, or 11.2% of the total amount, showing a year-on-year growth of 43.3%.

Of this centralized portion, 25.4 trillion soums came from the state budget, and the Reconstruction and Development Fund contributed 3.9 trillion soums. Additionally, 36.3 trillion soums were received as externally guaranteed state loans.

Among non-state sources, foreign investments and unsecured foreign loans made the largest contribution, totaling 371.7 trillion soums, or 63.6% of all fixed capital investments. Only foreign investments reached 270.6 trillion soums, accounting for 46.3% of the total volume and demonstrating a growth of 21.1% compared to the first nine months of 2025.

Enterprise financing amounted to 67.8 trillion soums (11.6% of the total volume), while household investments reached 71.6 trillion soums (12.3%). Commercial bank loans and other borrowed funds contributed 7.4 trillion soums, corresponding to 1.3% of the total volume.

Geography and Sectoral Structure of Investments

Investment activity was concentrated in Tashkent and several other regions of the country. The largest volume of capital investments was registered in Karakalpakstan at 94.8 trillion soums, followed by the Tashkent region with 61 trillion soums and the Namangan region with 60 trillion soums. The Samarkand region attracted 46.1 trillion soums, and the Fergana region received 46 trillion soums. Investments in the Navoi region reached 37.9 trillion soums, while the Surkhandarya and Bukhara regions received 34.5 trillion soums each.

The Andijan region recorded 33.6 trillion soums, the Kashkadarya region recorded 30.4 trillion soums, the Khorezm region recorded 25.2 trillion soums, and the Republic of Karakalpakstan recorded 22.6 trillion soums. In the Jizzakh region, investments amounted to 21.2 trillion soums, and in the Syrdarya region, they amounted to 19.4 trillion soums.

From the perspective of economic activity, production became the largest recipient of fixed capital investment, attracting 160.8 trillion soums, or 27.5% of the national total. The share of this sector increased by two percentage points compared to January-September 2025. Housing construction was second, receiving 87.1 trillion soums, which accounts for 14.9% of the total volume. Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries attracted 52.1 trillion soums (8.9%), while non-residential construction and infrastructure projects received 51.1 trillion soums (8.8%).

Investments in electricity supply, gas supply, steam, and air conditioning amounted to 39 trillion soums (6.7%). Mining attracted 33.9 trillion soums (5.8%), while transport and warehousing received 27.7 trillion soums (4.7%). Wholesale and retail trade, including vehicle and motorcycle repair, totaled 22.6 trillion soums (3.9%). Education received 12.7 trillion soums (2.2%), and water supply, sewerage, waste collection, and disposal attracted 12.2 trillion soums (2.1%).

Hotel business and food services, as well as information and communication services, received between 9.3 and 9.5 trillion soums. Total investments in healthcare and social services amounted to 7.7 trillion soums, followed by professional, scientific, and technical activities (6.1 trillion soums) and financial and insurance activities (5.4 trillion soums).

Distribution of Foreign Investments

Foreign investments and loans used from January to September 2026 reached 408 trillion soums, equivalent to 33.9 billion US dollars. Production accounted for the largest share of these funds—35.4%, followed by electricity and gas supply (19.7%). Mining and construction received 10.3% of foreign investments and loans each, while transport and warehousing received 8.4%. Agriculture attracted 6%, information and communication services attracted 5%, and water supply and sewerage attracted 2.2%. Healthcare received 1.7%, and other types of economic activities received the remaining 1%.

Regionally, Tashkent recorded the largest volume of foreign investments—47.9 trillion soums. The Namangan region ranked second with 31.7 trillion soums, surpassing the Tashkent region with 30.5 trillion soums, the Fergana region with 29.8 trillion soums, and the Samarkand region with 28.7 trillion soums.

New Housing and Infrastructure

In addition to investment data, the National Statistical Committee presented information on newly commissioned housing and communal infrastructure. In the first nine months of 2026, 12.6 million square meters of individual housing were commissioned in Uzbekistan, which is 13.1% more than in the same period of 2025. Of this total volume, 8.45 million square meters are located in rural areas.

The largest volume of new housing was commissioned in the Tashkent region—1.5 million square meters. The Andijan region followed with 1.26 million square meters, the Bukhara region with 1.25 million square meters, the Namangan region with 1.24 million square meters, and the Fergana region with 1.21 million square meters. The Surkhandarya region commissioned 1.08 million square meters, and the Khorezm region commissioned 1.21 million square meters.

The Jizzakh region added 645.4 thousand square meters, the Navoi region added 603.8 thousand square meters, and the city of Tashkent added 813.8 thousand square meters.

The country also commissioned 1104.6 kilometers of water pipelines during the reporting period. Of these, 1062.6 kilometers, or 96.2%, were built in rural areas. The Samarkand region provided the longest length of new water pipelines—575.1 kilometers. The Republic of Karakalpakstan contributed 198.8 kilometers, the Jizzakh region contributed 167.2 kilometers, the Fergana region contributed 92 kilometers, the Kashkadarya region contributed 45.6 kilometers, and the Andijan region contributed 25.9 kilometers.

Furthermore, from January to September 2026, 11.4 kilometers of gas pipelines were commissioned in Uzbekistan; all new gas pipelines were built in the Fergana region.

The National Statistical Committee clarified that fixed capital investment includes expenses for construction and installation works, the purchase of machinery, equipment, and vehicles, as well as other capital expenditures intended for the creation, expansion, reconstruction, or modernization of fixed assets. The Committee also noted that data for 2025 and earlier years may differ from previously published statistics due to subsequent recalculations.

According to a private study, the activity of India's private sector expanded in October at the fastest pace in the last four months, driven by an increase in new orders and improved production in the services sector.

The HSBC Flash India Composite Output Index, which tracks the combined output of the manufacturing and services sectors, rose to 56.7 in October from 55.9 in September. This marked the fastest growth rate since June, although the figure remains below the average for 2026.

The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 54.9 from 55.1 as job creation in factories slowed down. Meanwhile, the Services PMI Business Activity Index grew to 56.2 from 55.2.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a value below 50 suggests contraction. The composite index has remained above the 50 mark for 63 consecutive months.

Output growth accelerated in both sectors: the industrial output index slightly increased to 57.6 from 57.5. The study noted that improved market conditions and higher volumes of new orders contributed to this growth.

The pace of growth in total new deals accelerated, supported by the fastest growth in international orders in six months. Companies reported increased demand from the US, UK, West Asia, and Bangladesh.

Pranjul Bhandari, HSBC's chief economist for India, stated: 'Private sector activity in manufacturing continued to expand, with output and new order growth remaining generally unchanged compared to the previous month. However, the sustained pace of new order growth hides the fastest growth in export orders since June 2025.'

However, hiring slowed down. According to the survey, employment increased only slightly and at the slowest pace this year. Service firms maintained their headcount without change, ending a nine-month streak of job creation, while manufacturers added staff only marginally.

Work-in-progress inventories decreased for the third time in four months. The study highlighted: 'Although the rate of decline was modest, it was one of the strongest in six and a half years, comparable to August 2021. Furthermore, the latest decrease was one of the sharpest since the global financial crisis.'

Raw material cost inflation fell for the seventh consecutive month to its lowest level in nearly a year. The study reported: 'Weakened growth was observed in both the manufacturing and services sectors. Where input prices rose, higher costs for steel and transportation were mentioned.'

Retail price inflation also slowed to its slowest pace since March 2025, linked to the weakening growth in both sectors. Plant-level costs rose at the gentlest pace in almost four years.

Bhandari added that manufacturers responded by increasing raw material and finished goods inventories. He noted that raw material cost inflation declined, and selling price growth weakened to its weakest in almost four years.

This flash PMI provides an early indicator of final PMI figures for manufacturing, services, and the composite index and is based on approximately 90 percent of monthly survey responses.

Meta raised its minimum investment estimate for 2026 and announced a new class of non-voting shares when presenting its third-quarter results this Wednesday (21). The company, owner of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, reported revenue of US$ 64.6 billion (approximately R$ 349 billion), representing a 26% increase compared to the same period last year. However, profit was affected by a substantial legal expense resulting from an agreement related to damages on its platforms.

Currently, the company projects spending between US$ 135 billion and US$ 145 billion (equivalent to about R$ 729 billion to R$ 783 billion) on capital investments throughout 2026. Previously, the initial forecast was US$ 130 billion (about R$ 702 billion), keeping the upper limit at US$ 145 billion.

These figures confirm CEO Mark Zuckerberg's focus on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, covering data centers, chips, and computing capacity. Simultaneously, Meta is looking for ways to increase funding for this expansion without compromising executive share control.

The increase in projected spending occurs amid competition among large technology corporations to build the necessary infrastructure to train and operate advanced AI models. In the third quarter, Meta's capital investments totaled US$ 34.91 billion (about R$ 188.5 billion), surpassing the US$ 31.08 billion (about R$ 168 billion) recorded in the previous quarter.

This expansion demands computational resources, such as chips and data centers, essential for developing models and offering large-scale AI services. Despite this, the pace of these investments has put pressure on the company's cash flow, which registered a negative free cash flow of US$ 2.2 billion (about R$ 11.9 billion) in the quarter.

This scenario justifies the company's search for new funding sources. Although the advertising sector continues to grow, building AI infrastructure requires high outlays before all these investments translate into additional revenue.

Additionally, Meta announced plans to launch a new class of non-voting shares starting in January 2027. This measure aims to aid in financing acquisitions and attracting specialized talent without altering Zuckerberg's dominance over business decisions. The structure allows for raising funds or using shares in corporate operations without necessarily increasing the voting power of new shareholders.

This initiative comes at a time when Meta needs to compete with other companies, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, in developing AI models and agents. The launch of the Muse personal assistant and a new generation of proprietary models has supported this bet on AI. However, how to monetize these initiatives and the ability to convert investments into sustainable growth remain crucial points for the business.

Even with advances in AI investments, advertising remains Meta's main source of revenue. The company uses AI to refine ad targeting and content suggestions, aiming to increase user engagement and optimize results for advertisers. In the short-form video segment, Reels competes with TikTok and YouTube Shorts, while Threads competes with X, owned by Elon Musk. These services keep advertising activity at the core of the company's strategy while it develops new potential revenue streams linked to AI.

In summary, the quarterly results indicate a company that continues to increase its revenue but channels progressively larger amounts of resources into technological infrastructure. The challenge lies in proving that this investment can generate sufficient returns to cover the growing cost of the AI race.