In the scorching summer of Shanghai, the heat wave is rolling, and the exhibition hall of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) is crowded with people. Uzbekistan's Minister of Digital Technology, Sherzod Shermatov, stopped and held hands tightly with Harry Xian, the head of international business innovation and solutions at Ant Group. This meeting, held on the sidelines of the exhibition, did not have lengthy preparations and went straight to a core topic: how to deeply connect the digital map of Central Asia with China's AI technology.

In recent years, Uzbekistan has been vigorously promoting the transformation of the digital economy, viewing artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and fintech as key engines for national development. Faced with this booming market, Ant Group has demonstrated its profound accumulation in the fields of financial services, healthcare, and e-commerce, especially in the areas of deep forgery detection technology and digital identity systems, which has aroused strong interest from the Ukrainian side.

Computing infrastructure takes the lead

During the meeting, the Ukrainian side elaborated on the urgent need to enhance national computing capabilities and build data centers. Shelmatov has extended an invitation to Ant Group to participate in the construction of artificial intelligence infrastructure in Uzbekistan. This is not just a commercial investigation. The Ukrainian side has shown an extremely attractive trump card: the country has lower industrial electricity prices, huge potential for renewable energy, and an increasingly optimized investment environment, which is the ideal soil for operating high-energy AI computing centers.

Regional headquarters landing

In addition to hardcore infrastructure, the construction of soft environments is also being promoted simultaneously. The Ukrainian side suggests that Ant Group consider setting up its regional headquarters in the capital city of Tashkent. If this proposal is implemented, Tashgan will become a strategic pivot for Ant Group to radiate the entire Central Asian market. Harry Xian responded positively to this, stating that he will conduct in-depth research on the feasibility of phased expansion in the Central Asian market, demonstrating the tech giant's long-term layout intention for this emerging market.

Ecological comprehensive empowerment

The connotation of cooperation goes far beyond building computer rooms. The cloud services and various AI agents brought by Ant Group aim to build a complete digital service ecosystem. This coincides with Uzbekistan's digital industry development plan. The cooperation chain between the two parties is stretching from the construction of data centers at the bottom to the application of financial technology at the top. With more Chinese funded enterprises following suit, a digital Silk Road spanning east and west is gradually taking shape in the hinterland of Central Asia, injecting strong impetus into the digital transformation of the regional economy.Editor/Yang Meiling