Dear Investors and Friends,
As part of our continuing on the ground research, Scott Osheroff, Chief Investment Officer of the AFC Uzbekistan Fund, traveled throughout Uzbekistan in October 2018 and visited existing and prospective portfolio companies. All photos are by Asia Frontier Capital.
It was the middle of October 2018 and Uzbekistan had received its first snow. Driving through the darkness to the outskirts of Tashkent at 04:30am in an industrial area, we pulled into what remained of a paved parking lot which resembled a swamp more than a parking lot. Amid a crowd of scruffy men who descended upon us like vultures as we came to a stop, I was told to stay in the car and not draw any attention…of course that is only because then the price for our taxi to the regions of Uzbekistan would have been inflated to the “foreigner price.”
Once we had negotiated the fare for the six-hour journey, UZS 300,000 (~USD 35), we set off in our taxi. Dozing off here and there became a bit of a challenge as our driver started playing traditional Uzbek music which would have been better suited for a wedding celebration. Nonetheless, it was a good alarm clock of sorts as we approached the foothills of the Tian Shan mountain range, which stretches through China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The area had reportedly received a half meter of snow the night before, but by the time we arrived the roads had already been cleared and were in the process of being salted as we began climbing the switchbacks.
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