Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - Alberto Turkstra, a senior researcher at the European Institute for Asian Studies, commented on the State Program for the Implementation of the Action Strategy adopted by Uzbekistan in the Year of the Development of Science, Education and the Digital Economy.

According to the European expert, the State program will allow for the implementation of large-scale and people-oriented reforms, indicated in the five priority areas of the development of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the period 2017-2021.

A significant amount of resources will be directed to the development of science, technology and innovation. Governments around the world, including Uzbekistan, are increasingly recognizing the important role of science and technology as a driving force for the timely achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) until 2030 by developing new, innovative and more sustainable ways to meet human needs.

In addition, investments in digitalization of the economy will be a priority in the short and medium term to stimulate the socio-economic development of the country, as Uzbekistan seeks to diversify its economic portfolio.

Digitalization leads to positive results in such areas as public administration, increasing the level of public services, attracting foreign investment, increasing competitiveness and access to the markets of small and medium enterprises, creating new jobs for highly educated Uzbek youth. Finally, the emphasis on digitalization is in excellent agreement with the new EU-Central Asia strategy, approved in 2019, which also defines digitalization as a key area for future collaboration between the two regions.