Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — IT Park Uzbekistan has won the Knowledge Zone of the Year – Asia-Pacific award at the Global Free Zones of the Year Awards 2026.
The awards are organised by fDi Intelligence, a specialist publication within the Financial Times Group.
The award recognises Uzbekistan’s development of its technology ecosystem, efforts to attract international companies and investment, and initiatives to train specialists for the digital sector.
The Global Free Zones of the Year Awards assess economic zones worldwide each year based on the effectiveness of their strategies for attracting businesses and investment. In 2026, the awards covered three categories: industrial zones, knowledge zones and emerging zones. Knowledge zones focus on information technology, financial and business services, and other high-value-added sectors.
Developing digital skills and training specialists
Training specialists for the international technology market remains one of IT Park Uzbekistan’s priorities.
According to the organisation, 1.7 million young people have received training through the One Million Uzbek Coders project, while the Five Million AI Leaders initiative has reached 1.3 million people.
A total of 4,926 young specialists have received support to obtain international IT certifications. More than 18 billion soums has been allocated to reimburse certification and training expenses.
Under the IT-Talents programme, a further 3.17 billion soums was allocated to support educational institutions whose graduates find jobs at export-oriented IT companies.
Other initiatives supporting digital skills development include ICT4Girls, startup incubation programmes, national technology competitions and 20 artificial intelligence laboratories at universities.
Expanding international presence
According to IT Park Uzbekistan, its ecosystem comprises more than 4,100 resident companies, including over 1,200 with foreign participation. These companies employ more than 56,000 specialists.
More than 1,100 exporting companies provide services to markets in 102 countries. The organisation reports that information and communication technology exports have exceeded US$1.1 billion.
Tax incentives, infrastructure development and international partnerships help attract foreign businesses. These conditions are intended to expand opportunities for export-oriented technology companies.
International recognition for the startup ecosystem
The report also highlights Uzbekistan’s performance in international technology entrepreneurship rankings.
According to the StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026, Uzbekistan received the Country of the Year 2026 title and was named the world’s fastest-growing startup ecosystem, recording growth of 227.3%.
Over two years, Uzbekistan climbed 31 places to rank 79th globally, while Tashkent ranked 229th among startup cities.
According to the analytics platform Dealroom, the combined estimated value of Uzbekistan’s startup ecosystem reached US$4.3 billion in 2026.
The fDi Intelligence award adds to the international recognition of Uzbekistan’s technology sector, where investment policy, digital infrastructure and the training of qualified specialists play an important role.
