Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and IT Park Uzbekistan hosted the “Tumaris.Expo,” an exhibition of Central Asian startups, at Astrum IT Academy.  Approximately 20 startups led by women entrepreneurs from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the Kyrgyz Republic presented their innovative technological projects at the exhibition.

Sanobar Khudaybergenova, Development Outreach and Communication Specialist of the USAID mission in Uzbekistan, stated, “The 21st century is blurring gender boundaries in many professions. USAID is proud to open doors for women and girls to gain technical and business development skills to succeed in the IT sector, which was previously considered predominantly male.”

Advisor to the Minister of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan Kamola Sobirova, First Deputy Director of IT Park Abdulahad Kuchkarov, and the CEO of Beeline Uzbekistan Andrzej Malinowski, as well as investors and entrepreneurs from Uzbekistan’s private sector, attended the exhibition. 

Initially launched in Uzbekistan, the Tumaris.Tech program is providing comprehensive support for Central Asian women's entrepreneurial IT initiatives. Since 2020, with USAID’s support, approximately 70 product prototypes have been created and 115 start-up projects have been selected for further development through incubation and acceleration programs.

USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results.