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What We Found at ICT Week Uzbekistan: Startups, Robots and the Next Wave of Digital Innovation

ICT Week Uzbekistan 2026 filled Tashkent’s Central Asian Expo with everything from biometric payment systems and health-monitoring AI to experimental satellites and drone football. Held from September 22 to 25, the annual technology event brought together more than 300 exhibitors from 51 countries, according to the organizers. Walking through the exhibition, The Times of Central Asia spoke with developers and startup founders from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan about the latest generation of Central Asian tech products, and attempts to bring engineering education beyond the region’s largest cities. [video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://timesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/document_5309977585415922252.mp4"][/video] Paying with a Palm or a Smile At the BRB Tech stand, the Uzbek fintech company demonstrated products that it has developed for the banking sector, including biometric payment systems that use a customer’s palm or face. The idea is straightforward: instead of taking out a card or phone at a shop or coffee shop, a customer could authorize a payment using biometric data. [caption id="attachment_57065" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] A representative of BRB Tech presents the company's smile payment and palm payment solutions for shops and coffee shops.[/caption] Company representative Muratbek Azamkulov told TCA that Smile Payment was undergoing testing and had achieved 99.9% accuracy. Palm Payment is initially being developed for Uzbekistan's Business Development Bank, but Azamkulov said the company plans to offer the technology to other banks as well. On a nearby stand, IT Park Dushanbe was trying pitch the Tajik capital as an attractive destination for technology companies. Hilola Safarova, head of marketing and public relations at the park, said it now has more than 100 residents and over 50 partners. The park offers technology companies tax benefits and customs preferences, including exemptions for qualifying imported equipment. [caption id="attachment_57064" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Hilola Safarova, Head of Marketing and Public Relations at IT Park Dushanbe, presents the park's services and opportunities for IT companies.[/caption] A Startup Trying to Make Banks Compete for Borrowers One of the smaller Uzbek startups at the exhibition was FINKO, founded by Jaloliddin Ibodov. Its model reverses the usual process of looking for a loan. Instead of approaching banks one by one, an individual or business submits information through FINKO. The application can then be sent to several banks and microfinance organizations, allowing the borrower to compare offers. The cheapest interest rate is not necessarily the only consideration. "One borrower may want a lower monthly payment, while someone else might prefer a longer loan. Another person will look for the cheapest interest rate," Ibodov said, adding that FINKO currently works with five banks and ten microfinance organizations and has around 30,000 registered users. The platform charges users 10,000 Uzbek soums, about $0.80, to submit an application and receives a commission from a partner bank when a loan is issued. For about a year, the founders financed development themselves. Ibodov said the startup has begun approaching venture capital firms as revenue starts to appear. From Robotics Clubs to Satellites A large part of the exhibition was aimed at a younger generation of engineers. Diyorbek Kodiraliyev of the...

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Kazakhstan China Joint Investment Fund to Finance New Projects

Kazakhstan and China are moving to establish a specialized investment fund to finance new projects in Kazakhstan. An agreement on the basic terms of the fund was signed by national investment promotion company Kazakh Invest and Silk Road Finance Corporation on September 25 at the Kazakhstan-China Investment Forum in Almaty. The fund is expected to operate through the Astana International Financial Centre. The forum brought together more than 600 representatives of businesses, government agencies, and development institutions. It began with a minute of silence in memory of 14 Kazakh servicemen who were killed the previous day during military exercises on the Caspian Sea. China is Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner. Chinese customs data cited by Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry put bilateral trade at $48.7 billion in 2025, although Kazakhstan’s own customs data recorded $34.1 billion. Kazakh Invest said Chinese direct investment in Kazakhstan reached a record $2.8 billion last year. The two countries have set a longer-term target of increasing bilateral trade to $100 billion. Government figures released for the forum put Kazakhstan’s industrial cooperation portfolio with China at 260 major projects worth more than $62 billion. Transport projects include the Mointy-Kyzylzhar and Bakhty-Ayagoz railway lines, which are nearing completion. Kazakhstan is also working with Minmetals Logistics on a logistics corridor incorporating autonomous transportation technologies and digital systems. Other projects presented around the forum include plans by China’s UBTECH to build its first humanoid robot manufacturing plant outside China in Almaty, and plans to localize the production of oncology drugs with BeOne and INKAR. Transport and logistics projects include the development of Kuryk Port and a smart logistics park in the Khorgos-Eastern Gate Special Economic Zone. The Times of Central Asia previously reported that Kazakhstan’s technology cooperation with Beijing is expanding alongside its participation in U.S.-backed initiatives involving AI and technology supply chains. Forum organizers said beforehand that around 45 commercial documents were expected to be exchanged. Ten agreements highlighted at the event covered projects including an electrolytic aluminum plant and associated wind power facility in Abai Region, wind farms with a combined capacity of 450 MW in Akmola Region, automobile manufacturing, urea fertilizer production, and preparations for a dim sum bond issue by the Almaty city administration on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

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Kyrgyzstan Prepares to Launch Its First Homegrown Satellite

Kyrgyzstan plans to launch its first domestically developed and assembled satellite in early October, according to the Agriculture Ministry. The spacecraft is intended to collect imagery of farmland, pastures, glaciers, and water resources. The Agriculture Ministry plans to use the data to assess crop conditions and yields, detect drought, and monitor water resources. The satellite has been under development for about two and a half years. Final preparations are underway in Bishkek, including assembling its main components, installing electronic equipment, and testing the system. The launch is scheduled to take place from California during the first week of October. Kyrgyz media have reported October 1 as the planned launch date. The project is being carried out by the state-owned company Kyrgyz Asman. It was established in 2026 under the name Kyrgyz Sputnik and renamed in June. The Times of Central Asia previously reported that the company was created to develop the use of satellite technologies and data in agriculture and natural resource management. The company is to be based in Karakol in the Issyk-Kul region. The imagery is also expected to help assess areas affected by emergencies. For Kyrgyzstan, one of the most obvious applications of such imagery is water management. Mountain glaciers feed the rivers on which agricultural irrigation depends, while satellite observation makes it possible to regularly track changes across large and difficult-to-access areas. Similar projects are emerging elsewhere in Central Asia. In August, the Chinese-built Samarkand-2028 hyperspectral Earth observation satellite was launched carrying an artificial intelligence module developed by specialists from Uzbekistan’s Uzbekcosmos space agency. The data obtained from the satellite is expected to be used for agriculture, environmental monitoring, water and natural resource management, and other applications. Samarkand-2028 was built by China’s STAR.VISION Aerospace. Uzbekistan’s own scientific satellite, Mirzo Ulugbek, is being developed by a team of seven Uzbek engineers undergoing training at Japan’s Kyushu Institute of Technology. Its launch is planned for 2028.

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Deaths During Caspian Military Drills: Kazakhstan Investigates Commanders’ Actions

Fourteen servicemen in Kazakhstan’s Armed Forces were killed during military exercises on the Caspian Sea on September 24, and five Armed Forces officials were detained. On the same evening, around 100 relatives and Aktau residents gathered outside the city morgue as a serviceman read out the names of the dead. People demanded the chance to identify the bodies, and screams and crying could be heard after some names. September 25 was declared a day of national mourning in Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Defense later reported that 17 had been swept into the sea; three were rescued, one of whom was hospitalized, and 14 died. A criminal case was opened under provisions covering negligence in the performance of military duties resulting in serious consequences and violations of navigation rules. The Khazar Qorgany 2026 exercises began on September 22 in Kazakhstan’s sector of the Caspian Sea. More than 500 military personnel took part, along with ships and boats from the Naval Forces, hydrographic vessels, Coast Guard units of the National Security Committee’s Border Service, and Air Defense Forces aircraft. Relatives of one serviceman said that officials from the akimat, the local executive authority, the police, and the military enlistment office came to the family’s home to tell them their son had died. Members of other families said that some of the conscripts were about a week away from completing their military service. Based on the published birth dates of 12 servicemen on the Ministry of Defense’s initial list, they were between 19 and 23 years old; nine were born in 2006 or 2007. Among those killed was 20-year-old sailor Serzhan Ayapbergen from the Mangystau region. Before joining the military, he competed in sambo and judo, won silver at the Kazakhstan championship and the Commonwealth of Independent States Games in sambo, won judo competitions, and earned the title of Candidate for Master of Sport. Deaths among military personnel in peacetime have been debated in Kazakhstan for years. In April 2023, First Deputy Chief Military Prosecutor Maksat Kaziyev said that 270 servicemen had died since the beginning of 2020: 78 in 2020, 96 in 2021, 85 in 2022, and another 11 in the first months of 2023. According to prosecutors, 36% of the deaths were related to illness, 24% to road accidents, and 20% to suicide. Between 2018 and 2022, 86 suicides and 20 attempted suicides were recorded among military personnel. These figures cover career military personnel, contract soldiers, and conscripts, and include different causes of death. They do not show how many people died specifically while performing military duties. The deaths of conscripts, young men performing compulsory military service, are particularly sensitive in Kazakhstan. [caption id="attachment_57024" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Detention of the suspected commander / Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan[/caption] In November 2025, journalists questioned Defense Minister Dauren Kosanov about deaths among servicemen, hazing in Kazakhstan’s armed forces, and violence in military units. After a reporter said that news of serious incidents appeared almost every month, Kosanov responded with apparent...

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How Kazakhstan Became Central Asia’s Digital Hub

From October 1 to 3, Astana will host the AI & Digital Bridge conference, which is expected to draw more than 20,000 participants and over 100 technology companies. The wider AI Month begins on September 23 with HackAlem AI powered by OpenAI. Earlier editions of Digital Bridge have drawn a total of more than 127,000 participants from over 100 countries. Kazakhstan can bring such a gathering together because two decades of development have created the institutional and commercial base for its present AI strategy. Advanced computing capacity and large-scale technological investment now reinforce that base. Building the Digital Base Well before artificial intelligence became a central policy concern, Kazakhstan began building the digital-state capacity that underpins its current position. The e-government program dates from the mid-2000s. The 2017 Digital Kazakhstan program broadened that effort by linking the transition to a digital state with four other priorities: digitalization of economic sectors, development of the Digital Silk Road, human-capital development, and the creation of an innovation ecosystem. Startup formation thereby entered policy not as a one-off technology initiative but as part of a wider program of institutional and economic digitization. Kazakhstan ranked 24th globally in the UN E-Government Development Index in 2024. By 2025, about 90% of public services were available online. By then, the eGov portal had more than 15 million registered users, while its mobile application had more than 11 million. Large-scale digital interaction between citizens and the state had thus become a daily fact of life before the present AI push began. Public services inhabit the same digital environment as ordinary commercial transactions. Kaspi.kz reported 15.7 million average monthly active users in Kazakhstan at the end of 2025 and about 764,000 active merchants. Its Super App integrates payments with finance and commerce; it also carries government services. Digitalization has become part of everyday consumer behavior. In July 2026, internet and mobile banking accounted for 77.6% of non-cash transactions by number and 89.6% by value. Commercial adoption has accustomed much of the population to carrying out both routine transactions and more significant business transfers through digital systems. Infrastructure spending alone would not have produced the same result without the surrounding policy and commercial environment. Almaty supplies the financial and corporate side of the ecosystem, complementing Astana’s policy and startup institutions. Together, the two cities anchor an economy accounting for more than half of Central Asia’s GDP. Kazakhstan also holds roughly two-thirds of the region’s inward foreign investment stock, according to TCA’s Central Asia Balance Sheet. Institutional Concentration These developments acquired an institutional center through Astana Hub, established in 2018. It brings firms and founders into the same network as investors. Participation brings concrete operating advantages, including tax preferences and simplified arrangements for hiring foreign specialists. Companies may hire such specialists without a numerical limit, with work visas available for up to five years. They can also enter incubation or acceleration programs and obtain access to financing mechanisms. A 2026 World Bank appraisal described Kazakhstan as having built a credible technology-driven...

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Kazakhstan Capital Market Law Set for Major Overhaul

Kazakhstan is preparing to rewrite the rules governing its securities market for the first time in more than two decades. The draft Capital Market Law aims to make it easier for businesses to raise money on the stock market while strengthening protections for investors. The new law is intended to replace the Securities Market Law adopted in 2003. The draft was published for public discussion in September 2026. Kazakhstan’s stock market has expanded significantly in recent years. As of July 31, equity market capitalization on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) stood at KZT 47.7 trillion, or about $100.5 billion, while corporate debt in circulation had reached KZT 16.8 trillion, or about $35 billion. Despite that growth, state-owned and quasi-state companies and banks remain the main borrowers in the bond market. Private businesses rarely raise money through the exchange, while turnover in already-issued shares remains low. A Law That Grew Along With the Market Over more than two decades, the Securities Market Law has been amended by more than 60 legislative acts. The regulatory framework was built around individual financial products and procedures, and the regulatory policy consultation paper underpinning the reform proposes changing more than half of the existing provisions. Rather than introduce another large package of amendments, the authorities have decided to replace the law. More technical rules would instead be set out in secondary legislation, allowing them to be adjusted without going through the full legislative process. SMEs, the Exchange, and the Liquidity Shortage One of the main aims of the reform is to make the market more accessible to smaller businesses. Around 90% of financing for small and medium-sized businesses in Kazakhstan is linked to the banking sector, according to reform documents citing the Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund. KASE sought to make the market more accessible to smaller companies as early as 2017 by introducing less stringent listing conditions. But while the exchange could change its own requirements, it could not simplify the state procedures governing securities issuance. A company seeking to sell shares or bonds must prepare legal and financial documentation, register the issue, and comply with disclosure requirements. For a small business, the cost of lawyers, auditors, and other advisers can be disproportionate to the amount it hopes to raise. The draft would therefore allow a separate category for SMEs with simplified listing, delisting, and disclosure rules. Smaller issuers would also be able to use an abbreviated securities prospectus, the document setting out financial information about the company, the terms of the offering, and the risks. Companies making repeat issues would no longer have to prepare the entire set of documents from scratch. Registration is also expected to be digitized and transferred from the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) to the Central Securities Depository, which maintains records of securities ownership. The limited role of private companies is also visible in the bond market. At the end of 2025, outstanding corporate debt totaled KZT 16.2 trillion, or about $34 billion. According...