Tashkent, Uzbekistan, April 8, 2025 – The Global Green Growth Institute’s (GGGI) Director-General Sang-Hyup Kim conducted a four-day mission to Uzbekistan from April 3–7 in Tashkent and Samarkand. During his visit, Director-General Kim met with several key government partners and stakeholders, participated in two sessions at the Samarkand International Climate Forum 2025 and signed a Cooperation Agreement with Agrobank for continued joint support for the green development of Uzbekistan.

“Green Growth is a development imperative, not just an environmental goal,” stated Director-General Kim at the high-level dialogue on ‘Climate Change in Focus: Shaping the Future through Collective Action,’ highlighting the importance of coordinated and well-managed efforts of Central Asian countries to unleash the immense potential for strong economic growth as well as their huge renewable energy potential and water resources. He then also pointed out the role of AI-driven technologies in climate action, for instance, the use of advanced digital architectures to collect data that feeds country-tailored MRV systems for carbon trading.

“Climate change does not respect borders. Strengthening financial partnerships across Central Asia will accelerate the green transition and ensure long-term resilience. To scale up climate action, governments and international financial institutions must prioritize and well integrate green and climate agenda in their plans and strategies,” Director-General Kim stated at the Plenary Session I on ‘The Green Economy as a Pathway to Sustainable Development.’ He noted that GGGI is committed to facilitating knowledge sharing of successful cases among its Member States. For example, drawing from previous experience, GGGI has already facilitated the mobilization of over $1 billion green investment in Uzbekistan through green and sustainable bonds issuance with Agrobank and SQB.

At the Samarkand forum, Director-General Kim met with the First Assistant to the President, H.E. Saida Mirziyoyeva, and invited her to attend the Global Green Growth Week 2025, GGGI’s flagship annual event to be held in the Republic of Korea in October. He also extended his gratitude to the Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of Uzbekistan H.E. Aziz Abdukhakimov for the Ministry’s continued support on the implementation of the Aral Sea GRIP project (www.ggkp.org/aralseagrip), which focuses on climate-smart agriculture promotion, green investment mobilization, climate change awareness raising and capacity building for the population of the four project districts in the Aral Sea region.

Director-General Kim also discussed the potential of clean hydrogen with the Minister of Energy of Uzbekistan H.E. Jo’rabek Mirzamakhmudov. GGGI will support Uzbekistan develop its clean hydrogen to replace natural gas, in light of the country’s recent enactment of the Special Decree to promote energy efficiency. Director-General Kim brought GGGI’s Global H2G (Hydrogen to Green Growth) initiative to Minister Mirzamakhmudov’s attention, and kindly invited the Ministry of Energy to become a member of the H2G initiative to exchange knowledge and facilitate the adoption of clean hydrogen in Uzbekistan.

Director-General Sang-Hyup Kim also had a strategic discussion with the Minister of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic H.E. Sydykov Bakyt on Country Planning Framework (CPF) development for Kyrgyzstan, as they celebrated GGGI’s country office opening in 2024. They also shared views on the need for carbon trading mechanisms in Kyrgyzstan under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Director-General Kim proposed to make use of GGGI’s Carbon Transaction Facility (CTF), launched in 2024, as it offers opportunities for collaboration on carbon market mechanisms.

In Tashkent, Director-General Kim was welcomed by KOICA Uzbekistan Country Director Myung Seop Shin. Director-General Kim expressed his appreciation to KOICA for its partnership in funding the GGGI’s Aral Sea GRIP project. They discussed GGGI and KOICA’s potential project aimed to support the implementation of the Framework Agreement for Climate Change between Korea and Uzbekistan (signed in June 2023), with its key components focused on Article 6 implementation, project pipelines and carbon market mechanisms in priority sectors.

Director-General Kim then joined UN Resident Coordinator Ms. Sabine Machl for lunch to discuss past and future collaborations. They highlighted the joint development of a White paper with policy recommendations for the Aral Sea region, which provides a framework for inter-agency coordination and land-use planning. They reaffirmed their support for Uzbekistan’s NDC3.0 development and climate action, and agreed to continue exploring partnerships in new areas, including green health and education.

On his last day in Uzbekistan, Director-General Kim and Chairman of Agrobank Mr. Erkin Kakhorov signed a Cooperation Agreement. Under this agreement, GGGI will support Agrobank in developing green financial products and will guide access to international climate finance, while both parties will work towards integrating green growth principles into Agrobank’s operations. Finally, Director-General Kim had a strategic discussion with Mr. Ilhom Norkulov, First Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Both affirmed joint interest in cooperation on Article 6, hydrogen, AI-assisted MRV, district heating, and green finance. Both parties emphasized that trust-building and ensuring strong country ownership are key to advancing impactful cooperation.

GGGI is a trusted advisor and partner for Central Asian countries to support the region’s green transition. With operations in over 50 countries and nearly 270 ongoing projects, GGGI is uniquely positioned to convene innovative partnerships with governments, private sector actors, academia, and stakeholders. Since 2015, GGGI has helped mobilize more than USD 14.5 billion in green and climate finance commitments from both public and private sectors.

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Find updates on the Aral Sea GRIP project: https://ggkp.org/aralseagrip 

Read more about GGGI: https://gggi.org/