Uzbekistan joins ADB’s “Digital Highway for Asia” initiative

Uzbekistan will join the Asian Development Bank’s “Digital Highway for Asia” initiative, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced on May 4 during the opening ceremony of the 59th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors in Samarkand.

He noted that digital technologies and artificial intelligence are transforming nearly all sectors into a completely new format. According to forecasts by the World Trade Organization, global trade turnover is expected to increase by an additional 40 percent by 2040 due to artificial intelligence.

In Uzbekistan, efforts to develop information technologies are also being actively pursued. Work has begun on establishing an innovation- and knowledge-based artificial intelligence hub. More than 200 AI projects are currently underway across various sectors of the economy.

Programs are being implemented to expand data centers, supercomputers, and artificial intelligence laboratories in the regions, as well as to train “five million artificial intelligence leaders.”

“I would like to especially note that the Asian Development Bank, as well as our partners from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Korea, and China, are providing close support in these areas,” Mirziyoyev said.

The president also announced Uzbekistan’s accession to the bank’s “Digital Highway for Asia” initiative and proposed opening its regional coordination center in Tashkent.