Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a memorandum of understanding on the UPGRADE project, which envisages the establishment of a digital technology research center in Nurafshan, Tashkent Region, the Ministry of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan reported.
The document was signed on 21 September during a meeting involving representatives of the Ministry of Digital Technologies, IT Park Uzbekistan and the ADB. The meeting was attended by Minister of Digital Technologies Sherzod Shermatov, IT Park Uzbekistan Director General Azamat Karamatov and ADB Country Director for Uzbekistan Kanokpan Lao-Araya.
The memorandum was signed by First Deputy Minister of Digital Technologies Ayubkhon Sultanov and Yunie Jeong, a principal digital transformation specialist at the ADB’s Digital Sector Department.
The UPGRADE project — “Unlocking Growth Potential through Research and Advanced Digital Technologies” — envisages the establishment of a research center in Nurafshan that will bring together research and development, high-performance computing infrastructure, specialized technology laboratories, workforce training and mechanisms for commercializing technological solutions.
The Ministry of Digital Technologies is the project initiator and executing agency, while IT Park Uzbekistan will serve as the implementing agency. Project implementation is planned to begin in the second quarter of 2027 and be completed in the second quarter of 2032.
The total project cost is estimated at US$200 million. Financing is expected to come through an ADB sovereign loan backed by a state guarantee from the Republic of Uzbekistan.
One of the key objectives of UPGRADE is to establish a full-cycle ecosystem covering applied research and prototype development, testing, certification, commercialization and the entry of technological solutions into domestic and international markets.
The project plans to implement 300 research and development projects, incubate 100 technology startups and create 3,000 jobs in digital and deeptech fields. The supported projects are expected to generate combined annual revenue of at least US$50 million.
The project concept was developed with the participation of IT Park, universities, research institutions, the startup community, the private sector and government organizations.
The memorandum was signed as part of ICT Week Uzbekistan 2026.
