Latest news in Uzbekistan? September 10th, 2026

Alphabet Reform Approved by Senate The Senate of Uzbekistan’s Oliy Majlis approved major amendments introducing a revised 28-letter Latin-based Uzbek alphabet. The reform replaces problematic character and apostrophe combinations (such as O‘, G‘, Sh, and Ch) with dedicated letters (Ö, Ğ, Ş, and Ç) to significantly improve digital typing, computational linguistics, and text processing across state institutions and schools.Major Infrastructure & Nuclear Energy Partnerships Discussions surrounding Uzbekistan’s nuclear roadmap advanced following President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s regional engagements, where plans were highlighted for China to construct the country’s second nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, local development continues around the first nuclear facility in the Jizzakh region, where the government recently approved a dedicated 200-hectare industrial zone to boost domestic manufacturing and supply chain localization.Accelerated Bilateral Investment with Japan Officials from Uzbekistan and Japan agreed to accelerate the execution of a $12 billion portfolio covering 75 joint development projects. The initiative focuses on expanding non-sovereign financing, setting up specialized economic zones, and advancing IT sector collaboration following Uzbek IT service exports crossing the $1 billion milestone.Defense & Regional Cooperation Talks The defense ministries of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan conducted formal staff-level talks regarding expanded bilateral military cooperation and strategic exchange of defense expertise under their current-year joint cooperation framework.Tourism Sector Growth Data released by the Tourism Committee showed foreign tourist arrivals reached 9.1 million during the first eight months of 2026, marking a 21.1% increase year-over-year. Total tourism service exports surged by 53.5% during the same window, driven by significant increases in visitors from Southeast Asia, Japan, and the United States.