Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- At the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, 2020 has been declared in Uzbekistan as the “Year of Science, Education and Digital Economy Development”. This fully reflects the current global trends in the digitalization of economic relations as the most optimal and economically profitable way of developing a market economy.

According to UNCTAD, the global digital trade market is US$29 trillion. Digital commerce accounts for about 20% of global trade and is expected to increase to 25% by 2025.

Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, Internet platforms are accelerating the digitalization of the service sector, creating a large number of jobs, helping to increase the openness of the economy, and promoting the export of goods and services to foreign markets.

In this regard, on 13 October 2020 with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the PRC, the Consulate General of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Shanghai, Ministry of Unvestment and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Innovation, the Ministry of Information Technologies, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Uzbek-Chinese Business Forum "Shanghai-Tashkent: Prospects for E-Commerce" - "Silk Road of E-Commerce" with the participation of representatives of state, public and commercial structures of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the People’s Republic of China will take place.

The event is organized by the Department of Electronic Commerce and Information Technology of the China International Center for Electronic Commerce, the Xinjiang Asia-European International Trade Center, the Consulate General of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Shanghai, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as the AEEX company and the investment and consulting company BMB TRADE GROUP.

The business forum will be attended by 50 representatives of ministries and departments, business circles of China and Uzbekistan, who will discuss the priority tasks of international and interregional cooperation in the field of e-commerce, ways to further strengthen them.

The main goal of the business forum is to organize the exchange of experience in the development of e-commerce, to find optimal ways of cooperation in the implementation of electronic platforms to stimulate the export of goods from Uzbekistan and the import of Chinese products.

At the end of the event, AEEX and BMB TRADE GROUP will sign a Memorandum of Understanding, including promoting the export of domestic agricultural products to the Chinese market.

In general, the event will serve the further development of Uzbek-Chinese interaction in the development of e-commerce, the introduction of electronic platforms in order to increase trade and economic ties and partnerships.