Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Residents of IT Park more than tripled their exports to US$57 million in the first quarter of 2023. This was announced on his Telegram channel by the Minister of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan Sherzod Shermatov. 

According to him, the volume of exports in January-December 2021 was US$46 million and in the first quarter of 2022 - US$17.6 million. 

Sherzod Shermatov stressed that if there are no negative external effects, the volume of exports of IT services and products in 2023 will reach US$300 million

For example, according to the results of the 1st quarter of 2023, the total volume of services provided by residents amounted to 2,381.0 billion soums. Compared to the same period last year, the volume of services rendered by IT Park resident companies increased by 292%. For comparison: data for the 1st quarter of 2021 amounted to 438.6 billion soums, and for 2022 – 814.0 billion soums.

In terms of directions, the volume was distributed as follows:

Development – 1 358.4 billion soums;

Processing – 839.9 billion soums;

Education – 25.6 billion soums;

BPO – 157.1 billion soums.

Export volume of IT Park residents increased by 327% compared to the 1st quarter of last year and amounted to US$57.2 million. Of these, 48% are in the United States, the rest – in the UK (15%), Singapore (10%), CIS countries (10%) and others (17%). By the end of 2023, exports are expected to reach US$300 million.

In the first quarter of this year, the number of IT Park residents amounted to 1,262 companies, of which:

– 876 residents are in the city of Tashkent, the remaining 386 residents are registered in the regions;

– 382 companies work for export;

– 172 - BPO companies;

– 256 companies provide educational services in the field of IT;

– 185 companies with foreign capital participation.

The main share of residents works in the following areas:

software development and support (61%);

data processing (5%);

IT education (20%);

BPO (14%).

In the first quarter, 207 companies received the status of IT Park resident, of which 61 companies are exporters with a planned export volume of US$55 million by the end of this year.

At the same time, 71 companies were denied the status of a resident, and 63 companies were deprived of this status for failure to fulfill the obligations specified in the contract. Also, in relation to these companies, a notification was sent to the tax authorities to cancel the benefits provided and restore obligations to pay taxes to the state budget.

Additionally, thanks to the benefits provided, IT Park residents create additional jobs and increase the number of IT specialists in our country. Thus, in the first quarter of this year, more than 2,100 jobs were created in resident companies. The total number of employed specialists amounted to more than 20,000, which is 12% more than at the end of 2022.

We remind you that IT Park residents are IT companies and IT training centers that can receive a number of significant benefits:

income tax — 7.5%;

corporate tax — 0%;

unified social payments — 0%;

customs payments when importing goods for own needs – no.

Also, IT Park residents have the right to pay wages and dividends to foreign specialists and founders in foreign currency in non-cash form to international payment cards within the limits of export earnings. Additionally, IT Park residents are provided with the Virtual Office service, which makes it possible to work remotely without renting a room.

Development of the startup ecosystem

IT Park organized (including in partnership with other organizations) 8 events and 5 programs aimed at supporting start-ups, among which the largest were:

the first wave of the Plug and Play Uzbekistan acceleration program

 the second wave of the AloqaTechLab corporate accelerator

 international startup exhibition Tumaris.Expo

For the 1st quarter of 2023, Uzbek startups managed to receive funding from state bodies in the amount of more than 17 billion soums. At the same time, more than 12 billion soums were received by startups from Jizzakh, more than 1.4 billion soums – projects from Navoi and more than 1.3 billion soums – startups from Bukhara. The amount of foreign financing for the 1st quarter of this year reached US$1,904,000.

In partnership with AloqaVentures corporate venture fund under AloqaBank the second wave of the corporate acceleration program AloqaTechLab was launched, which implies a 3-month intensive program of startup pitching and packaging and consists of training sessions with experienced foreign and local mentors from various fields, as well as 1:1 sessions with trackers that help startups ensure rapid growth of sales and other key metrics. Sixteen startups in artificial intelligence, big data, financial and corporate technology became participants of this acceleration program.

Recall that under this startup support initiative, 26 startups successfully completed the program last year, and startups Beatify, The Mind and Cradle attracted investments totaling US$250,000.

Also, 2023 began with the victories of startups from Uzbekistan in international competitions: