(Photo: VCG)

GULISTAN, Uzbekistan, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan's centrally located Syrdarya region hosted an international investment forum on Thursday to attract more foreign direct investment and promote export.

Organizers have said that over 150 representatives of companies from China, Russia, India, Belarus and Kazakhstan took part in the forum.

Syrdarya region has already attracted 100 million U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment since the beginning of this year, officials said during the forum.

The region has a free economic zone. A total of 45 projects have absorbed 305 million U.S. dollars of investment, and nearly 50 million dollars are from foreign countries.

Uzbekistan has been carrying out economic reforms in the past two years to attract foreign investment.