The B5+1 Business Forum is the private‑sector counterpart to the C5+1 diplomatic platform: a U.S.–Central Asia business forum that brings together business leaders, policymakers, and civil‑society actors from the five Central Asian states plus the United States to identify private‑sector led solutions for investment, trade, and regional economic integration. Typical topics (and the agenda for 2026) include agriculture, banking and finance, critical minerals, e‑commerce and IT (digital economy/AI/cybersecurity), transportation and logistics (connectivity), tourism, and public‑private policy recommendations to improve the business environment.
C5 refers to the five Central Asian republics that participate in the C5+1 platform: Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Sergio Gor is the U.S. Special Envoy for South and Central Asia (and U.S. Ambassador to India). The Special Envoy’s mandate is to represent U.S. interests in South and Central Asia, advance U.S. political and economic engagement in the region, coordinate diplomatic outreach (including through C5+1/B5+1 processes), and promote U.S. priorities such as trade, investment, energy, and regional stability.
A U.S. special envoy is a senior diplomat with authority to conduct high‑level diplomacy, negotiate on behalf of the U.S. government, and represent U.S. policy in a specific region or issue — but they cannot unilaterally conclude binding international treaties or commit appropriated U.S. funds without delegated authorities or interagency/ congressional approvals. In practice envoys negotiate agreements, sign memoranda of understanding, advance commercial and programmatic deals, and help secure U.S. agency or private‑sector commitments that require follow‑up approvals.
Based on recent C5+1/B5+1 agendas and U.S. priorities, likely sectoral focuses are: energy and critical minerals (extraction and supply chains), transport and logistics (connectivity/Trans‑Caspian routes), digital economy/IT and AI (including cyber and data infrastructure), banking and finance (investment/SME finance), agriculture and food value‑chains, and tourism; infrastructure and workforce development projects often cross these sectors.
Typical concrete outcomes from such visits and forums include non‑binding memoranda of understanding, public‑private partnership agreements, investment announcements (company deals or “deal‑zone” pledges), technical‑assistance or capacity‑building program launches, and occasional U.S. agency funding commitments — with many outcomes requiring later legal/financial approvals to be implemented.
Increased U.S. engagement with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan supports broader U.S. objectives in Central Asia: diversifying economic ties and supply chains (including critical minerals), strengthening regional connectivity and energy security, building institutional capacity and rule‑of‑law reforms, countering malign influence by offering alternatives, and promoting stability through trade, investment, and security cooperation under the C5+1 framework.