Abstract
This study examines the major macroeconomic factors associated with the volume of foreign investment attracted to Uzbekistan, focusing on gross domestic product, foreign trade turnover, inflation, and population as the principal explanatory variables. The research employs a quantitative time-series approach based on official statistical data from the National Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan and applies pairwise correlation and Ordinary Least Squares regression methods to evaluate the direction, strength, and statistical significance of the relationships among the selected variables. The empirical findings indicate that foreign investment is strongly associated with the expansion of economic activity, international trade, and domestic market capacity, while foreign trade turnover emerges as the most statistically significant determinant within the estimated regression model. Inflation demonstrates a negative but statistically insignificant relationship, whereas the effects of gross domestic product and population should be interpreted cautiously due to strong interrelationships among macroeconomic scale variables. Overall, the findings emphasize the importance of deeper international trade integration, macroeconomic stability, export-oriented investment policy, and improved trade and logistics infrastructure in strengthening Uzbekistan’s capacity to attract foreign investment.
Keywords
foreign investmentforeign direct investmentgross domestic productforeign trade turnoverinflationpopulationinvestment attractivenesseconometric analysis Foreign investment has become an important component of economic development, particularly for emerging and transition economies seeking to accelerate structural transformation, expand productive capacity, and strengthen their integration into the global economy. Foreign capital can supplement limited domestic financial resources, facilitate technological upgrading, support industrial modernization, and contribute to the development of international production and trade linkages. However, the ability of an economy to attract foreign investment is not determined by a single factor. It reflects the interaction of market size, economic growth, trade openness, macroeconomic stability, industrial development, institutional conditions, and other country-specific characteristics. Consequently, identifying the macroeconomic determinants associated with foreign investment is important for both investment policy and long-term economic planning.
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