Uzbekistan advances the Surkhandarya M41 route as a regional trade and logistics link

Verified facts

• The World Bank announced on 23 March 2026 approval of a US$200 million project to support transport modernisation and sector reform in Uzbekistan. The project includes reconstruction of a 91-kilometre M41 road section in Surkhandarya, connecting Uzbekistan with Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Afghanistan, alongside institutional support for Uzbekistan Railways and transport-sector reform.
• The World Bank states that the project is expected to create jobs and businesses along the reconstructed route, while its transport-sector context identifies pressure on capacity as freight volumes grow. These are programme objectives and operating context, not evidence of an individual asset, freight service, supplier requirement or customer commitment.
• Uzbekistan’s Roads Committee reported on 16 January 2026 that it had discussed plans and proposals with the World Bank for reconstruction of kilometres 1525 to 1622 of the M41 Bishkek-Dushanbe-Termez highway in Surkhandarya. Its account describes a planned four-lane Category 1b cement-concrete route through Termez and neighbouring districts, including 22 bridges and overpasses.
• The Roads Committee’s project page publishes environmental and social documentation for the M41 section, including stakeholder-engagement, labour-management, resettlement, environmental and biodiversity materials. These documents identify an accountable project environment and a public evidence route; they do not confirm a live tender, bid eligibility, site access, subcontract, delivery slot, payment or award for a particular company.
• The World Bank’s September 2026 Trans-Caspian corridor analysis gives independent regional context: corridor gains depend on both physical links and enabling investments in logistics, digital systems, service delivery and cross-border coordination. That context supports a whole-route operating assessment rather than a road-construction assumption alone.