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Secretary Marco Rubio Delivers Remarks at the American-Uzbek Business & Investment Council, Oct. 19, 2026

October 19, 2026 · U.S. Department of State · 0:10:44

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered welcoming remarks at the American-Uzbek Business & Investment Council on October 19, 2026, opening with a criticism of American foreign policy as he framed it — his own country’s included: “for too long… we’ve been captive to the crisis and to the problem,” he said, arguing that urgent problems had too often cost the United States its opportunities.

Central Asia, and Uzbekistan in particular, was his named example of a region “we should have been involved in sooner and in a bigger way.” He credited the shift to President Trump — the White House summit hosted the previous year, envoy Sergio Gor’s appointment for Central Asia, and the invitation for Uzbekistan and other regional countries to attend as observers at the G20 in the United States at the end of the year. “Let there be no doubt that the United States wants to be a partner of this region and wants to be a partner of this country,” he said. “We already are, and we intend to build that and grow it.”

Why it matters

The council remarks are the commercial face of the administration’s Central Asia opening: business and investment machinery attached to a diplomatic courtship, with the Secretary arguing in public that opportunity-chasing is now a stated pillar of American foreign policy rather than an afterthought.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Secretary Marco Rubio Delivers Remarks at the American-Uzbek Business & Investment Council” (official upload, embedded above). Remarks as delivered; transcript reviewed in the site’s private research store.