Information Technologies - The Times Of Central Asia

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Economic Growth Job Creation Information Technologies business and economy

Alatau IT Hub Opens in Kazakhstan’s Almaty Region

The Alatau Hub, Kazakhstan's most recent regional IT hub has now opened in Konaev in the Almaty region. Supported by the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan, the Alatau Hub is the 14th regional IT hub launched under the management of Astana Hub. Kazakhstan is now on course to establish similar hubs in all of its regions by the end of this year. During the launch, Ersultan Ermanov, director of the Information Technology Development Department at the Ministry of Digital Development, commented: “The opening of a hub in the Almaty region is a very significant event for IT specialists in the region. Our regional hubs play a key role in creating and developing an ecosystem that stimulates the emergence of new innovative projects, expansion of business activity and technological progress. In the future, Alatau Hub will become a center of attraction for young ambitious talents. It will also contribute to the emergence of new jobs, economic growth, and increased competitiveness of the country in the international arena.” The IT hubs currently in operation across 14 of Kazakstan's regions include: Abai IT Valley, Kyzylorda Hub, Digital Jetisu, Zhambyl Hub, Oskemen IT Hub, Jaiq Hub, Turkistan IT Hub, Qostanai IT Hub, Aqtobe IT Hub, Aqmola IT Hub, Pavlodar IT Hub, Terrikon Valley, Mangystau Hub, and Alatau Hub. By the end of 2024, further hubs will open in the cities of Atyrau, Shymkent, Zhezkazgan, Petropavlovsk, and Zhanaozen.

Education Employment Information Technologies business and economy

Uzbekistan to Create IT Towns Across its Regions

On May 13, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev conducted a government meeting on measures to develop digital technologies and expand IT training for young people across the country. In recent years, Uzbekistan’s IT sector has undergone rapid growth and compared to the 147 companies registered in 2017, the country now has close to 2,000. The number of specialist employees has likewise increased and today some 30,000 people work in high-paid company jobs and a further 70,000 young people are independently engaged in the sector. During the first quarter of this year alone, services in the sector increased by 20 percent, exports amounted to $200 million, and 5,000 new jobs were created. Home to 80 percent of the country’s IT specialists, Tashkent represents the hub of Uzbekistan’s IT services and exports. To redress the balance through the development of the IT sector further afield, the government now plans to create IT towns in fifteen of the country’s regions and in the city of Khanabad. Once established, the IT towns will enable some 10,000 young people per year to study, free of charge, information technologies, foreign languages, and other professions in high demand. Hailing the initiative, the president emphasized that the key aim of the IT towns is to “give young people wings and train them in professions fit for the modern world.”

Information Technologies

Uzbekistan’s IT Sector Sets Sights on United States

Uzbekistan's revenues from IT outsourcing tripled last year to more than $300 million, after doubling every year for the previous four years. The Uzbek government believes that this rate of growth could soon bring Uzbekistan into the ranks of major IT outsourcing centers such as India, Belarus, Ukraine and Romania. Recent reforms and investment in Uzbekistan have made the country a more attractive place to work not only for local IT professionals, but foreign workers as well. The number of companies in Uzbekistan established using foreign capital has grown seven and a half times in the last two years. Uzbekistan is developing an IT ecosystem centered around the Tashkent IT Park. In addition to the Ministry of Digital Technologies, which is located there, 1,652 companies had become residents of the park by the end of 2023, almost half of them (767 companies) setting up over the past year. Residents of the IT park have significant tax benefits: Uzbekistan's corporate tax ranges from four to 15%, but companies at the park are exempt from it. The IT sector now employs about 6,000 people. The main technology export market for Uzbekistan today is the United States, which accounts for half of all IT exports. By the end of 2022, the U.S. had moved to 15th place from 20th for importing outsourcing services from Uzbekistan. Uzbek authorities aim to increase IT outsourcing to $5 billion, with the involvement of 300,000 people, as part of the country's 2030 development strategy.