At the fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum, the Market Access & Policy Centre joined partners from across Central Asia and the Caucasus in a new framework for regional investment cooperation (RAIC-CAC), and put forward two practical proposals.
Ashgabat, 22 June 2026 — From 16 to 18 June 2026, a delegation from the Market Access & Policy Centre (MAP Centre), established under Turkmen Congress ES, took part in the fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF), where a new framework for regional investment cooperation across Central Asia and the Caucasus — the Regional Alliance of Investment Councils of Central Asia and the Caucasus (RAIC-CAC) — was launched. On 18 June, MAP Centre joined partners from across the region in signing the Memorandum of Cooperation that sets out the framework.
RAIC-CAC is intended to support practical cooperation on investment across the region — coordinating priorities, advancing cross-border projects, and presenting Central Asia and the Caucasus as a single, attractive investment space. Participants come from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Armenia and Georgia, alongside MAP Centre on behalf of Turkmenistan.
Inaugural strategic session. On 16 June, MAP Centre’s delegation — Director Vepa Malikgulyyev and Senior Associate Mergen Haljanov — took part in the framework’s inaugural strategic session at the JW Marriott Hotel Tashkent, hosted by the Foreign Investors Council of Uzbekistan with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Participants presented their national priorities and aligned the priority directions of the RAIC-CAC Roadmap 2026–2027. MAP Centre set out two practical proposals aimed at helping turn the agreed agenda into action: a programme of rapid trade missions between participating countries, and a single open regional database bringing together the region’s businesses and its business events.
“Our contribution was deliberately practical,” said Vepa Malikgulyyev, Managing Director of the Market Access & Policy Centre. “We proposed a programme of rapid trade missions between member states, and a single open database bringing together the region’s businesses and its business events — so companies and investors can find partners and opportunities across borders in one place. MAP Centre is ready to help the alliance carry that kind of work forward.”
Public panel session. Later the same day, Mr Malikgulyyev joined the public panel “Regional Alliance of Investment Councils of Central Asia and the Caucasus: Unlocking Regional Investment Potential,” alongside representatives from the participating countries and from the EBRD and the ADB, which introduced the framework to the wider Forum audience. Forum plenary and Foreign Investors Council. On 17 June, the delegation attended the Forum’s opening plenary session at the Congress Hall in Tashkent, and on 18 June took part in the Plenary Session of the Foreign Investors Council of Uzbekistan — high-level sessions convening governments, investors and international financial institutions engaged across the region.
Signing of the Memorandum. The delegation’s participation concluded on 18 June with the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation. The Memorandum sets out how the participants will work together — through consultation, coordination and knowledge exchange, an annual regional forum, and joint investment-promotion initiatives. Following the Forum, MAP Centre will work with the other participants to develop its proposals into concrete programmes. The Centre’s engagement continues toward the Turkmenistan Investment Forum, scheduled for 7–8 October 2026 in Ashgabat.
About the Market Access & Policy Centre The Market Access & Policy Centre (MAP Centre) is the dedicated market-access and policy-advisory platform established under Turkmen Congress ES — an institutional channel for investors, governments and development institutions engaging Turkmenistan and the wider region. Local Potential. Global Partnerships.
