Rustam Azimov, born on September 20, 1958, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is a prominent Uzbek economist. He graduated from Tashkent State University and the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Melioration, earning degrees as an economist-engineer. From 1980 to 1984, he served as a lecturer at Tashkent State University, and in 1984, he defended his dissertation to obtain a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics at the Tashkent State University of Economics. Following this, he worked as an economist and head economist at agricultural enterprises in Uzbekistan from 1984 to 1988, before returning to academia to teach economics at higher education institutions until 1990. From 1990 to 1991, he was the founder and chairman of the board of the newly established private commercial Bank “Ipak Yuli”. From 1991 to 1998, he was the chairman of the board of the newly established National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan. His political career advanced significantly when he held various ministerial positions from 1998 to 2017, including Minister of Finance, Minister of Economy, and Minister of Foreign Economic Affairs and Investment, while also serving as Deputy Prime Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister. From 1992 to 2017, Azimov represented Uzbekistan as Governor at several international financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Since 2017, he has been the General Director of the Joint-Stock Company Export-Import Insurance Company “Uzbekinvest”. In 2022, he furthered his academic credentials by defending his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Science in Economics at the Tashkent State University of Economics. Rustam Azimov's extensive career reflects his significant contributions to Uzbekistan's economic development, banking and financial sectors.