Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Visa, the global leader in the digital payments industry, today hosted the Visa Central Asia Payment Forum, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the company’s innovation and work in the region. During the event, Andrew Torre, President of Visa in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region, announced the opening of a Visa office in Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

The Visa Central Asia Payment Forum was attended by more than 300 participants, including leading experts in the field of digital payments, representatives of the public sector, as well as the financial and banking sectors from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Leading international experts from Visa discussed with forum participants the current trends and tendencies shaping the development of digital payments, business transformation and contributing to the rapid growth of trade volume and money mobility throughout Central Asia.

At the event, Andrew Torre noted the significant progress in the formation of the digital payments ecosystem, which was achieved as part of the national strategy for the growth and development of a cashless economy, implemented by the government and the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The last decade has seen a significant increase in access to financial instruments and banking systems—the number of adults with a bank account in their name has nearly doubled, from 23% in 2011 to 44% in 2021, according to the World Bank.

“Visa has been present in Central Asia for over 30 years, and today we are pleased to host our Visa Payment Forum and announce the opening of our office in Uzbekistan for the first time,” said Andrew Torre, Visa President, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and AfricaA.

“Across Central Asia, the future of money lies in digital technologies. We have witnessed a significant and sustained shift towards convenient, fast and secure digital payments. We look forward to continuing to work productively with partners from the public and private sectors to build on our progress and continue to support economic growth and development in Central Asia,” said Andrew Torre.

According to Vera Platonova, Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for Visa in Ukraine, Georgia, the CIS and Southeast Europe, Visa shares the vision and goals of the government of Uzbekistan to promote the development of the digital payment ecosystem.

“Uzbekistan is a strategically important market for Visa and we are proud to work together with our industry partners, including banks, mobile operators, fintech companies, and regulators. As we look to the next three decades and beyond, we at Visa are confident about the future and look forward to further implementing our vision in Uzbekistan of developing a cashless economy, as well as the availability of safe and secure digital payments. The opening of a Visa office in Tashkent will strengthen the support provided to all financial institutions and trade and service enterprises in the country, and will make a positive contribution to the further progress of the industry and economic growth as a whole,” noted Vera Platonova.

In recent years, Visa has introduced a number of innovative technologies and solutions in Uzbekistan to accelerate digital transformation in the country, including Visa Direct technology, which allows for secure and convenient transfer of funds in real time to cardholders around the world; Visa Tap to Phone, launched in partnership with startup MayaSoft, winner of the global Visa Everywhere Initiative in Uzbekistan, capable of turning a simple mobile phone into a terminal for accepting payments; Visa Humans is the first physical and virtual payment card in Uzbekistan.