Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - Uzbekistan plans to increase the volume of exports of software products and services to US$1 billion.

Minister for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications, Chairman of the Board Sherzod Shermatov gave the relevant instructions during an expanded meeting of the Board of the Ministry.

It was noted that the President of Uzbekistan put forward priority tasks for the development of the information technology sector. “We have identified increasing the export of software products and services to US$1 billion as our main goal. Then IT Park will turn into a megaproject. It should be noted that its export component differs significantly from export in other industries, since the surplus value in this case is almost 100 percent, and its implementation does not require additional imports of products or raw materials, ”the head of Uzbekistan said.

One employee working for export with an average salary of US$2 thousand brings in export income of US$24 thousand already a year. If the number of such employees exceeds 40 thousand, then at the expense of their salaries, exports in the amount of US$1 billion will be sent to our country. After the creation of a separate tax environment for programmers in accordance with the Presidential Decree 4.5 years ago, an increase in the volume of software services 50 times is only the first step in achieving this goal, Shermatov said.

Along with this, the Minister for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications identified specific tasks to raise the work on the development of the digital economy and e-government to a new level.

At the meeting, the issue of introducing an e-government system and increasing rating indicators was identified as an important area.

During 2022-2026, in order to develop the ICT sector, investment projects in the amount of US$1.5 billion will be implemented.

By the end of 2026, through the Single portal of interactive public services, the number of public services provided will be brought to 610.

Starting from the second half of 2022, in order to attract highly qualified foreign specialists in the field of ICT and create conditions for foreign investors, a simplified system of issuing and renewing visas for them and their family members for labor and investment activities will be introduced.

At the same time, the main and priority task of the Ministry is to increase the export of information technologies and meet the needs of the population by improving the quality of services.