The Mayor of Tashkent and the Asian Development Bank are working together to turn a $200 million digital innovation valley blue map into reality, aiming to create an artificial intelligence and digital technology center in Central Asia and inject new intelligent power into the ancient Silk Road.

Digital Future City on 35 hectares of land

Under the joint efforts of Tashkent Mayor Ilhom Klichkanov and representatives from the Asian Development Bank, a grand plan has officially surfaced. This project, known as the 'Digital Innovation Valley', is located in Nulavson and covers an area of 35 hectares. It is planned to be built in stages between 2027 and 2030.

Project planning is not just a simple industrial park, but a fully functional micro 'future city'. An information technology park, innovation center, multiple research institutions, modern laboratories equipped with advanced equipment, a large conference center, teaching buildings, and comfortable residential facilities will be built within the park. Its core is to build a national level artificial intelligence and digital technology center, aiming to gather regional wisdom and become the core engine driving the digital transformation of Uzbekistan and even the entire Central Asian region.

Incubate innovation, connect the world

This digital innovation valley carries Uzbekistan's earnest expectations for the digital economy. According to the plan, after the completion of the project, it will directly promote the launch of more than 500 scientific innovation projects, give birth to more than 160 technological prototypes and more than 100 start-up enterprises. Its goal is not only local incubation, but also global connectivity: it plans to attract $10 million in private investment, promote the commercialization of 40 key technology solutions, and help at least 10 local startups successfully enter the international market.

Behind this series of numbers is a strategic determination of a country to seek economic diversification and seize the high ground of the digital age. By creating a modern innovation ecosystem, this project is expected to create a large number of high skilled job opportunities and cultivate a new generation of technology talents for the region.

A new chapter of digital cooperation on the Belt and Road

The project, from conception to negotiation and implementation, has received strong support from the Asian Development Bank, reflecting the confidence of international financial institutions in Uzbekistan's development vision. At the same time, this initiative is also highly consistent with the construction concept of the "Digital Silk Road" in the the Belt and Road Initiative. While promoting facility connectivity and smooth trade, strengthening cooperation in the digital economy, artificial intelligence and other frontier fields is becoming a new direction for high-quality development of the the Belt and Road.

For China, Uzbekistan, as an important node country of the the Belt and Road Initiative, the improvement of its digital infrastructure and the prosperity of its innovation ecology will open up broader space for cooperation between China and Uzbekistan, as well as between China and Central Asia in digital technology, scientific and technological research and development and market expansion, and jointly draw a new picture of mutually beneficial and win-win digital development.

At present, both parties have had in-depth discussions on key details such as project organization, specific site selection, and supporting public facilities, and the construction work is steadily progressing according to plan. The Nurafsson Digital Innovation Valley, the future city on the Silk Road, is ready to take off.Editor/Yang Meiling