Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - On 14 October this year, at an extraordinary meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan took part as the head of the observer state.

During his speech, Shavkat Mirziyoyev stressed that Uzbekistan attaches great importance to the development of close multifaceted cooperation with the EAEU, whose members are natural trade and economic partners of Uzbekistan.

As the President noted, accelerated digital transformation, including the expansion of e-commerce, is becoming a key driver of modern development. In this regard, one of the priority tasks for expanding cooperation between Uzbekistan and the EAEU is the exchange of practical experience in the field of digitalization and the mutual transfer of advanced technologies.

The Uzbek side expressed interest in enhancing cooperation with the EAEU through the participation of our country in the implementation of the projects "Digital technical regulation" and "Digitalization of freight rail transportation".

The relevance of the proposals put forward is explained by the successful work carried out by the EAEU countries to create a single digital space to improve integration processes in the fundamental areas of cooperation. So, in order to develop a single transport space in the EAEU, a project has been launched to digitize freight rail transport in the interests of developing trade and economic cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and other partners.

To intensify transit traffic by rail, it is planned to: 1) improve the quality of information exchange between rail carriers; 2) ensure the transition to electronic document management for cargo control within the Union and during the registration of international transportation; 3) to establish electronic interaction of participants in foreign economic activity with the regulatory authorities of the EAEU member states, including the spheres of veterinary and phytosanitary control.

The implementation of this project will make it possible to switch to an integrated electronic technology for the transportation of goods by rail for bilateral and transit traffic between the EAEU states and neighboring countries outside the Union.

In this regard, Uzbekistan’s connection to this project will create additional conditions for the intensification of transit cargo transportation by rail in the West-East and North-South directions without using paper documents.

Another important project for Uzbekistan is "Digital Technical Regulation", which involves the digitalization of product requirements, the development of technical regulations and lists of international and regional standards in the field of technical regulation. More than ten thousand documents are planned to be digitized within the EAEU.

The implementation of this digital project contributes to the creation of a digital environment for the development of technical regulations, as well as to accelerate the launch of new products to the market that meet current mandatory requirements. 

Uzbekistan’s participation in the Digital Technical Regulation project will contribute to the elimination of existing barriers, the harmonization of technical regulations and standards in trade with the EAEU countries.

It is noteworthy that the implementation of the digital agenda of the EAEU by 2025 can increase the total GDP of the countries of association by 11%. At the same time, the growth of employment in information and communication technologies (ICT) may amount to 66.4%, which will increase the total employment in the Union space by 2.46%. An additional increase in the volume of exports of ICT services may amount to 74%.

In this regard, it is natural and quite logical that our country is significantly interested in establishing close cooperation in the development and use of digital platforms being developed in the EurAsEC.

Such cooperation will also become a logical continuation of the implementation of the previously signed Memorandum of Cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as a plan of joint activities for 2021-2023.

As Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted, accelerated digital transformation is becoming a key driver of modern development. Therefore, the accession of Uzbekistan to the digital projects of the EAEU will accelerate the processes of digital transformation of the country, which has been implemented in recent years within the framework of comprehensive reforms initiated by the President.

The republic is implementing comprehensive measures to develop the digital economy, as well as to widely introduce modern information and communication technologies in all sectors and spheres, primarily in public administration, education, healthcare and agriculture.

The strategy "Digital Uzbekistan-2030" was approved, within which the share of the digital economy in the GDP of Uzbekistan is planned to double by 2023, and the share of electronic public services - up to 60% by 2022.

It is planned to introduce over 280 information systems and software products to automate management, production and logistics processes at enterprises in the real sector of the economy.

Thus, the establishment of close cooperation between Uzbekistan and the EAEU countries within the framework of digital projects will allow balancing the depth and pace of development of digitalization in our countries, which are now at different levels. At the same time, strengthening cooperation in the field of digitalization will allow attracting advanced technologies and know-how to the economy of Uzbekistan.

Miraziz Mirumarov,

Leading researcher at the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISMI)