According to UNCTAD, the FDI flows to the transition economies of South-East Europe and former Soviet republics declined by 58 percent to $24 billion in 2020. FDI grew only in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Montenegro.

Nestled between the Pamir and Alay Mountains ranges, the landlocked country of Tajikistan has garnered little attention in the Western press since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The meeting will take place in Tashkent from August 31 to September 4 and will be attended by 57 IsDB governors.

The Uzbek government, historically very wary of the spread of radicalism from Afghanistan, offered conflicting reports last week about incidents involving an alleged collision between an Uzbek MiG-29 and a fleeing Afghan military plane.

In recent days, several incidents set off alarm bells in Tashkent over the sudden deterioration in the situation and a reluctance to let Afghani military absconders into Uzbekistan.