Results of the IT Park delegationʼs visit to London

From April 17 to 21, London hosted the UK FinTech Week 2023 conference, a specialized week dedicated to the fintech direction in IT, which was also attended by a delegation from IT Park Uzbekistan.

The trip was an opportunity to meet with leading fintech companies, explore the prospects for cooperation, and showcase the countryʼs potential as a destination for fintech investment. During the conference, the delegation of Uzbekistan held a number of meetings with companies such as Apex Fintech Solutions, RNWL, PropCap Technologies, Onfido, Ripple, FinTech Wales, Eigen Technologies and others.

As part of the state initiative Start in Malta, aimed at expanding the Maltese startup ecosystem, the delegation discussed the potential for cooperation and knowledge sharing between the startup communities of Uzbekistan and Malta.

Additionaly, delegates of IT Park took part in the Open Banking Roundtable, where they discussed the possibilities of cooperation in the development of joint projects to promote the portfolio of IT Park residents in order to attract projects to Uzbekistan.

The second day of the conference began with a panel discussion on “The Future of FinTech Regulation” where delegates learned about the latest regulatory developments in the industry.

Representatives of IT Park met on that day with the Business Development Director of TechUK, a member organization representing the UK technology industry.

The parties discussed potential cooperation and agreed to hold joint webinars to share knowledge and experience between IT Park residents and TechUK member companies.

Additionaly to the joint webinars, TechUK representatives expressed interest in visiting Uzbekistan, which will be attended by the UK Department for International Trade, in order to provide additional support for potential cooperation between British and Uzbek companies.

On the same day, representatives of Uzbekistan attended a seminar on the theme “Open Banking and Financial Inclusion”, where they got acquainted with the information of open banking in promoting financial inclusion and access to financial services. The workshop was followed by a networking event where participants were able to exchange ideas with representatives of various fintech companies and organizations.

On April 19, a delegation from Uzbekistan took part in an event on the theme “DBT Day: Bringing the UK Fintech ecosystem to You”, an interactive session dedicated to the British Fintech sector. The event featured a diverse panel of speakers including representatives from the UK Financial Regulatory Authority, regulatory consultants and many more.

Additionaly, the delegation met with Abror Ismailov, Chief Investment Officer of Newstead Capital UK, and discussed the issues of financing real estate and the second part of the construction work of the IT Park complex.

On the fourth day of the trip, the delegation met with the chief banker for information and communication technologies of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Sergey Arsenov. The EBRD representative expressed interest in increasing the export of IT services from IT Park residents. He mentioned that BPO company Mplus is interested in entering the Uzbek market, which will create new opportunities for IT and BPO companies in Uzbekistan to expand their services.

Delegates attended a meeting with representatives of fintech company Revolut, a British financial technology company that offers banking services including a prepaid debit card, currency exchange, cryptocurrency exchange and peer-to-peer payments.

Adam Geigen, head of government relations at Revolut, was told that the Uzbek market is interested in Revolut headquartering in Central Asia, in particular in Uzbekistan. Adam Geigen assured that he is ready to discuss considering such an opportunity, since Revolut is actively entering emerging markets. The parties agreed to continue the conversation with the participation of the Minister of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan in an online video call with Revolut to further discuss the proposal.

On the same day, the delegation visited the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Great Britain, where they met with Stackt, a software company. The parties discussed potential outsourcing of call center services in Uzbekistan. The delegation also met with the Institute of Directors, which includes fintech companies and software companies interested in cooperation with the Uzbek market.