How was IIFT-2023?

On April 27-28, the second Tashkent International Investment Forum (IIFT-2023) was held at Congress Hall Tashkent City, which opened with a plenary session with the participation of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The Tashkent International Investment Forum is a large-scale dialogue platform for the entire Central Asian region, which allows presenting the investment potential of Uzbekistan to the international investment and business community. The forum is designed to attract the Heads of large foreign investment, financial and economic organizations and companies interested in integrating into the dynamically developing market of Uzbekistan.

Within the framework of IIFT-2023, a plenary session was held, over 30 discussion meetings of experts, including panel sessions, round tables and b2b negotiations, designed to unlock the investment potential of both Uzbekistan and Central Asia as a whole.

The speakers were about 150 Heads of leading international companies, funds, well-known economists and experts from a number of countries, who discussed trends in the world of investment, prospects for the development of green energy, e-commerce and other topical issues of deepening economic cooperation at the international level.

The Minister of Digital Technologies Sherzod Shermatov took part in the panel discussion on the theme “Electronic Commerce: New Perspectives and Opportunities”. He expressed his opinion on the prospects for e-commerce and the work carried out in this direction in the country, and noted the rapidly growing demand for e-commerce around the world.

In particular, it was noted that the period of the pandemic period, when people were forced to work from home, highlighted a significant increase in demand for online services. It also showed the shortcomings that need to be addressed in the e-commerce space.

During the forum, representatives of foreign companies emphasized that the attractiveness of Uzbekistan in the field of e-commerce is growing, and expressed their opinion on the further development of the online market and its prospects. Opinions were also heard about the digital ecosystem that provides consumers with a sufficient number of electronic online services.

As part of the investment forum, a business breakfast was organized on April 28, where topics such as how to invest in education, what hinders investment in this sector and what problems exist in this direction were discussed.

Speakers shared their views and experience in these matters: Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Shakhlo Turdikulova, Deputy Minister of Preschool and School Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan Temurjon Komilov, First Deputy Director of IT Park Abdulahad Kuchkarov, Deputy Director for Education Development Makhliyo Muksinova, Head of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations of IT Park Jamila Khalibaeva, Managing Partner of Global Asia Consulting Zohri Idris, Rector of Inha University in Tashkent Muzaffar Dzhalalov, co-founder and CEO of Coursalytics Ilya Breiman and others.

Recall that the first IIFT took place in 2022. Last yearʼs forum was significant in terms of the agreements reached: then a solid package of contracts and investment agreements worth $7.8 billion was concluded.