INVESTMENT SECURITY AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN UZBEKISTAN: THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY AND MACROECONOMIC STABILITY

Investment can support sustainable growth when it raises productive capacity,encourages innovation, and creates links between domestic firms and international markets. However, amount of capital invested does not guarantee these outcomes by itself. Investors also consider whether regulations are predictable, contracts can be enforced, inflation is manageable, and public institutions operate consistently. This article examines these relationships in Uzbekistan using a structured review of official statistics and institutional research, including the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, Transparency International, the World Justice Project, and the OECD's 2025 investment-policy review. Official sources report that real GDP grew by 7,7% in 2025 and consumer-price inflation was 7,3% at the end of that year. The OECD reports that gross fixed capital formation increased from 23% to 36,8% of GDP between 2017 and 2019, while FDI inflows reached 2,1% of GDP in 2024. These figures show the scale of investment and recent macroeconomic performance, but they do not show that institutional reform or investment alone caused this growth. The review identifies regulatory predictability, contract enforcement, macroeconomic stability, investment diversification, and stronger links between foreign and domestic firms as important policy priorities.