(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 24. StrategEast plays akey role in developing and promoting Central Asian countries asreliable providers of digital services, President of theorganization Anatoly Motkin told Trend in an exclusive interview.
“StrategEast's most ambitious project in Central Asia focuses ondeveloping and promoting the region as a reliable provider ofdigital services, supported by USAID's Future Growth Initiative. Wealso highlight Central Asia's capability to develop products ofinterest to other countries. To achieve this, we conduct researchand provide recommendations to international financial institutionsand government development agencies, such as in our 'The billion inthe distance: Central Asian IT exports and strategies for growingthem' report. Our goal is to offer guidance on how these countriescan foster the dynamic growth of their IT industry,” he said.
Motkin also mentioned that StrategEast follows its ownrecommendations, establishing partnerships with major globalvendors to support the development of Central Asia's IT ecosystem notable project involved training 2,000 students in Uzbekistanand Kazakhstan in collaboration with Google, resulting in allparticipants earning Google certificates of completion.
“We are now planning to launch a partnership project with OracleAcademy. This initiative aims to train professors from CentralAsian universities, enhancing their knowledge to meet the standardsof international IT companies seeking to hire their graduates, we intend to help these universities align theircurricula with the expectations of the global IT industry.
Another project that StrategEast is proud of involves attractinglarge engineering and IT companies to the Central Asian region companies not only provide specialists with advancedknowledge but also create jobs. Through this program, we supportthe countries' efforts to promote Central Asia as a reliableprovider of digital services and assist regional startups inentering new markets and attracting investors," said theorganization's president.
He mentioned that another significant recent project forStrategEast is establishing a digital bridge between Central Asiaand the Gulf countries.
He also highlighted the emergence of several unicorn companies(startups valued at over $1 billion) in Kazakhstan andUzbekistan.
“The emergence of each unicorn company fuels exponential growthand heightened interest in the IT industry within these countries to the vigorous efforts of Uzbekistan's High-Tech Park andthe Ministry for the Development of Information Technologies andCommunications, Uzbekistan is increasingly becoming a significantplayer on the global outsourcing map. It is crucial that not onlylocal IT companies are involved in attracting new clients, but thisinitiative has also gained support at the state level,” headded.
He stated that Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and other countries inthe region have realized that collaborating and promotingthemselves collectively is far more effective and easier than doingso individually. He pointed out that institutions like the SilkroadInnovation Hub in California (US) and the Al-Farabi Innovation Hubin Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), along with other initiatives, are alreadybenefiting all countries in the region, not just theirfounders.
The StrategEast president emphasized that Central Asia and theCaucasus can achieve significantly more by working together.
When asked about the measures needed to develop the IT industryin less developed Central Asian countries like Tajikistan, Motkinnoted that there are substantial drivers for digital transformationin these nations.
"In Tajikistan today, there is a political will to develop theIT industry. The country has adopted a strategy for the developmentof artificial intelligence, which is incredibly important," heemphasized.
Motkin mentioned that the zypl startup, the State BusinessIncubator of Tajikistan, and the recently launched IT skillstraining platform Technohub Dushanbe are all operational in thecountry.
However, he believes this is not sufficient for Tajikistan tocatch up with its neighbors in digital transformation. Achievingthis requires not only political will but also support frominternational financial institutions and development agencies, aswell as the advancement of the academic environment, especially infundamental sciences like math, physics, and chemistry.
"In general, we see very motivated young people in Tajikistan;they just need support. As part of our contribution, in addition toattracting international experts and inviting Tajik IT specialiststo various international IT events and programs, StrategEast hasalso initiated a series of quarterly donor meetings in Dushanbe todiscuss how we can assist the republic in developing its ITindustry. The first meeting was held in March, and the resultsshowed that all donors in the country are keen on developing the ITsector as the most promising opportunity for Tajikistan to createnew prospects for its talented youth," StrategEast's presidentadded.
Motkin noted that in addition to the projects StrategEast iscurrently implementing, the organization plans to assist CentralAsian officials in mastering artificial intelligence toolsdeveloped by global technology leaders such as Google, Nvidia,Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
"Alongside government officials who require AI tools for theirwork, we will soon launch several programs to train students anddevelopers in Central Asian countries in the most advancedtechnologies. These technologies will enable them to competeeffectively in the global IT market.
We will also continue to facilitate the entry of service andproduct companies from Central Asian countries into the PersianGulf market, where new opportunities are emerging for them," heconcluded.
To note, StrategEast is a leading independent organizationdedicated to developing Eurasia's digital economy in collaborationwith international financial institutions, development agencies,global technology companies, and Eurasian governments.
StrategEast is a non-profit organization with offices in the US,Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.
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