From October 24th to 27th, the most significant event in the field of ICT in Uzbekistan, ICTWEEK UZBEKISTAN 2023, took place in Tashkent.

Over the last 19 years, ICTWEEK has served as a crucial platform for sharing experiences and showcasing the latest achievements in modern technology and innovation. It is here that foreign investors become acquainted with the potential and attractiveness of the local IT market.

The primary objective set before Uzbekistanʼs IT sector is to increase the export of IT services from Uzbekistan to $5 billion by 2030, and ICTWEEK plays a pivotal role in achieving this goal.

IT Parkʼs events at ICTWEEK

Speaking at one of the most significant events within ICTWEEK — the Uzbekistan Outsourcing Forum, the General Director of IT Park, Farhod Ibragimov, outlined two paramount objectives for the organization:

“Starting from this year, IT Park is focusing on two main objectives: supporting local companies in expanding into the international market and attracting foreign companies to Uzbekistan.

Now, our resident companies oriented towards export have access to the ʼAll-in-oneʼ program, which represents a comprehensive package of exclusive services.

This program includes a dedicated personal manager, round-the-clock support, assistance in staff recruitment, infrastructure, legal, accounting, and banking services, as well as uninterrupted internet access.

Furthermore, IT Park residents are exempt from all forms of corporate taxes and only pay a preferential income tax rate of 7.5%. Uzbekistan may currently be the most attractive country in the world in this regard.”

The event gathered over 200 representatives from IT companies, including 49 representatives from foreign companies and 60 foreign guests from South Korea, the United States, Russia, Turkey, France, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Colombia, Romania, and Azerbaijan.

Additionally, within the framework of ICTWEEK, various events took place, such as the Startup Summit, IT Education Forum, the Uzbekistan-Korea ICT Business Partnership forum, and others.

At the Startup Summit, the Star Venture program was presented, launched by the EBRD with the support of IT Park. This program will assist startups from Uzbekistan in attracting investments for international market expansion.

IT Park organized the IT Education Forum, the goal of which is the development of IT education in Uzbekistan. The forum featured a video address from Jeff Magioncalda, the CEO of Coursera, and the award ceremony for the winners of the regional stage of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), where IT Park and IT Park University acted as organizers.

Also, IT Park, together with Korean partners KOICA, NIPA, UNIDO ITPO Korea and KOIIA, held the Uzbekistan-Korea ICT Business Partnership forum for the first time. The event attracted more than twenty Korean IT companies and provided a unique opportunity for local companies to launch joint projects with Korean colleagues.

Throughout the entire ICT week, the ICT Expo exhibition took place at the Central Asian Expo (CAEx) exhibition center, covering an area of over 4,000 square meters and welcoming more than 16,000 visitors. The IT Park stand and the IT Startup Alley were featured at the exhibition.

A total of 72 startups were presented, with 42 being IT Park residents, and 30 participating in the Plug and Play programs. These startups showcased their ideas, products, and services to industry representatives and potential investors. 

ICTWEEK results for IT Park 

Following ICTWEEK, 7 foreign companies have decided to establish their offices in various regions of Uzbekistan. These companies include HOCA (Korea), Esokia (France), Greenworld LLC (India), Cappersoft (Pakistan), Programmers Force Pvt. Ltd. (Pakistan), Ejada Systems (Saudi Arabia), and Scalewill (Russia).

Furthermore, three of these companies — HOCA, Esokia, and Greenworld LLC — have applied for IT Park resident status and plan to create no less than 200 new job positions in Uzbekistan during their first year of operation, exporting IT services exceeding $10 million.

Within the framework of ICTWEEK, two essential memorandums were signed — one with KMAM Group S.L. (ACIR Southern Europe, Spain) and the other with KOIIA (Korea). The former will assist IT Park and its residents in accessing European markets, particularly the Spanish market, and disseminating information about Uzbekistanʼs investment attractiveness in Spain. The latter will help IT Park establish relationships with Korean companies and attract orders and investments from them.

This year, more than 160 representatives of foreign companies visited IT Park during ICTWEEK, and B2B meetings were conducted.