Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov took part in the annual forum “Digital Almaty 2024: Industry X” in Almaty on 2 February.

The forum was also attended by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov, the First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic Adylbek Kasymaliev.

As noted at the event, today the digital economy has become a major factor in global development, taking into account rapid changes in all spheres of human activity.

In particular, much attention is paid to the development of digital technologies in Uzbekistan.

The Uzbekistan 2030 strategy, approved last year by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, identifies a number of priorities for the further development of the digital economy until 2030.

The Prime Minister of Uzbekistan told the forum participants about the large-scale reforms being implemented under the leadership of the head of our state, and their practical results within the framework of this strategy.

As noted, Uzbekistan plans to implement several projects to create favorable conditions for the growth of exports of IT services, support for foreign companies opening their offices in Uzbekistan, and local IT companies in entering foreign markets.

As part of the digitalization of education, finance, customs, agriculture, energy, geology and other areas, more than 100 information systems have been developed and implemented.

For example, due to the digitization of 370 customs procedures, the time for reviewing documents was reduced from 3 hours to several minutes.

In addition, the biometric digital identification platform “My Personal ID Card” is successfully operating. An intelligent “risk analysis” system has been introduced in the tax and customs departments.

In particular, the “President Tech Award” competition, aimed at supporting young IT startups in Uzbekistan, with a total prize fund of US$1 million, aroused great interest among forum participants.

The forum emphasized that the introduction of new technologies through joint efforts will contribute to the rapid digital development of our countries.

In this regard, Uzbekistan proposed creating a regional expert platform for the exchange of technologies and knowledge in the field of artificial intelligence.

Abdulla Aripov noted that in Uzbekistan the number of resident companies in IT parks has exceeded 1,670. Today they employ over 26 thousand specialists. The number of foreign residents of the IT park has also increased almost 3 times - 426 companies, he added.

He noted that the country has expanded its export geography to 60 countries, and also increased the volume of IT services provided by 2.4 times, bringing it to almost $350 million.

According to him, in 2023, more than 200 additional services will be introduced on the Unified Portal of Interactive Government Services. This made it possible to provide 21 million services to residents and businesses, he said.

This year it is planned to launch an IT talent program in Uzbekistan, reports the head of the government of Uzbekistan.

As part of the program, it is planned to allocate up to $3,000 to educational centers for each employed specialist in companies exporting IT services.