Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — A delegation led by former UK Prime Minister and Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Tony Blair, visited the Ministry of Digital Technologies and IT Park Uzbekistan.

During the visit, the delegation was presented with an overview of the ongoing reforms at the Ministry of Digital Technologies and IT Park Uzbekistan, including key focus areas and future plans.

Tony Blair also familiarized himself with the activities of the Ustudy IT Academy, which specializes in training IT professionals; the UZSOC Innovation Center, dedicated to ensuring cybersecurity of critical infrastructure; and the unified integrator UZINFOCOM. Special attention was given to projects in artificial intelligence and digital solutions.

The main part of the visit featured a meeting between the Minister of Digital Technologies, Sherzod Shermatov, and Tony Blair, during which they discussed the development of Uzbekistan’s digital infrastructure.

Key topics included the expansion of international outsourcing services in Uzbekistan, preparing local IT talent to meet global market demands, educational programs in collaboration with Coursera, the favorable conditions IT Park Uzbekistan provides for foreign IT companies, tax incentives, and the successful outcomes of major initiatives such as the Zero Risk project.

The discussions also explored potential cooperation in training young specialists in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, improving English language instruction, and organizing training programs and seminars with the involvement of international trainers and experts.

Proposals were also voiced to promote Uzbekistan as a regional IT hub, attract European companies as IT Park residents to help them optimize costs and expand their businesses through remote work opportunities.

Additionally, the parties discussed inviting major cloud service providers to tap into the potential of “green” data centers being developed in partnership with ACWA Power under the DataVolt brand, as well as attracting investors for the construction of new data centers based on Saudi Arabia’s direct investment model.

The meeting also included an exchange of views on digitalization, creating a favorable ecosystem for startups, and attracting foreign companies to the country.

At the conclusion of the visit, Minister Sherzod Shermatov invited Tony Blair to participate in the upcoming United Nations Public Service Forum to be held in June in Samarkand, as well as in ICT Week Uzbekistan, scheduled for 23–25 September in Tashkent.

Both sides expressed appreciation for the meeting and shared optimism about the successful implementation of future projects.

Founded by Tony Blair in 2016, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change is an international nonprofit organization that supports countries in developing sustainable and innovative models for development, while addressing climate change and other contemporary challenges.