The first periodic Donors’ Coordination Meeting was held on March 11 in Tashkent as a joint effort of USAID, EBRD and StrategEast! More than twenty international financial institutions, development agencies, embassies, and government representatives discussed collaboration opportunities for fostering the development of the tech ecosystem in Uzbekistan.
The purpose of the meeting was to coordinate activities between donors and international financial institutions and the development actors, foster collaboration and by sharing funds and resources achieve greater synergetic effect for the development of the ICT industry in Uzbekistan.
Welcome remarks and valuable quotes from honorable participants of the event were by:
Hamid Narmuratov, the Principal Counsellor, Competitiveness, Governance and Political Affairs of EBRD: Digital is one of the main priorities for the EBRD, along with green and inclusive. We are supporting many digital policy projects in our Countries of Operation, such as customs digitalization in Moldova and Mongolia, digital Port Community System in Georgia, e-Government framework in the Kyrgyz Republic and other countries, digital transformation of SOEs, digital tools for private sector to manage their interaction with suppliers etc. In Uzbekistan our policy advise in ICT sector includes: increasing competition, through liberalising measures, decreasing the state’s presence in the sector, through large scale privatization; introducing effective regulation, to attract more investments, driving broadband infrastructure roll-out and overall sector growth; based on the above to develop a holistic long-term strategy. Along with those activities – we recently launched together with the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade a very ambitious and impactful project – the single e-window for investors and businesses. This platform will integrate all existing and new government systems, platforms and applications into one platform with user user-friendly interface that will provide all public services and allow business to send their issues and complaints to government agencies.
Jonathan Henick, the U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan: Uzbekistan’s digital sector is growing fast and the largest market for its IT exports is the United States!
Milo Stevanovich, Chief of Party, USAID Business Support Project (BSP) implemented by Palladium Group International, Uzbekistan: the BSP project – is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at fostering sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Uzbekistan. A five-year journey towards enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises across four key sectors, including information and communications technology (ICT).
Anatoly Motkin, the President of StrategEast: the uniqueness of the IT industry is that it advances issues that are not developing separately, such as gender inequality, equal opportunities between regions and large cities, as well as the integration of Uzbekistan into the Global Supply Chain. We are convinced that by coordinating the efforts and actions of donors, we will be able to significantly accelerate the development of the knowledge-driven economy in Uzbekistan!
Khayitbek Khamidov, the Head of the IT-services Expansion Department of the IT Park Uzbekistan has shared information about the Local to Global and Zero Risk programs, on their advantages both for local IT organizations and for international companies that want to open a representative office in Uzbekistan and begin expansion by exporting activities into international markets
As a result of productive discussion, participants agreed: to hold the meetings every quarter; to exchange information on what every participant is doing in Uzbekistan regarding the development of the digital economy; to reach the private sector as well, to hear where they need support from donors; and to invite the Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Foreign Investors Council under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the next meeting.
