Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- As part of the 25th Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Samarkand, a meeting of the Management of the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the global payment system Mastercard was held.

The parties announced a strategic partnership in the field of tourism development in Uzbekistan and adopted a Memorandum of Understanding, which involves the accession of the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Mastercard Tourism Innovation Hub.

The memorandum was signed by the Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan Aziz Abdukhakimov and the global head of the public sector, executive vice president for strategic development of Mastercard Nicola Villa.

“The Ministry warmly welcomes cooperation with our partners, Mastercard. This opens up broad prospects for us to improve the payment employment and visit experience for domestic and foreign visitors, analytics on spending and tourist flows, promoting Uzbekistan as a tourist destination among Mastercard cardholders in more than 200 countries and regions of the world,” said Aziz Abdukhakimov . .

Nicolla Villa also spoke about the prospects for long-term cooperation with Uzbekistan.

“We are announcing the beginning of long-term cooperation with Uzbekistan in the field of tourism development. Uzbekistan has an incredibly rich heritage, amazing culture and impressive sights. This beautiful country has enormous potential, and we are proud to contribute to its development using our technology platform, advanced payment solutions, experience in disseminating cases around the world, data analytics skills and much more,” said Mastercard Vice President .

It is worth noting that the Mastercard Tourism Innovation Center will work with the Ministry and subordinate organizations in Uzbekistan to develop digital solutions for governments, domestic and foreign tourists, and tourism enterprises. Managing the collaboration also includes developing safe, secure and convenient payment activities for passenger and tourism businesses, providing analytical data to identify trends and developing strategies to promote Uzbekistan as a tourism destination, conducting additional research, and sharing global best practices.

Mastercard is a leading global payments and technology company, currently leading more than 1,600 government projects in more than 60 countries aimed at driving economic growth through digital payments.