On the sideline of the ICT Leaders’ Panel Discussion about the Future of Tech Talent and Digital Transformation in ME&CA, during the Huawei Seeds for the Future (SFTF) 2024 Regional Final, held at the Ministry of Digital Technologies (MoDT) of Uzbekistan, Rustam Karimjonov, Deputy Minister, gave Gulf Times an exclusive interview.

Karimjonov said: “We are so much honoured to host this event in Uzbekistan which brings together the 14 countries of the ME&CA. Over 200 students are attending the event, exchanging ideas, innovations, and startups. Uzbekistan has good relations with Huawei in terms of not only developing the infrastructure, but also investing in talent and supporting the youth worldwide. Through their CSR programmes around the world, they support the youth and invest in the talent of the future. They started this programme several years ago and it continues in different countries, now it is happening in Uzbekistan.”

Karimjonov commented on the digitalisation in Uzbekistan: “Huawei’s support is important for our country because our economy is growing, and digitisation is a priority. We have ambitious goals; we want to achieve $5bn OIT service revenue before 2030 and want to nurture 300,000 highly qualified IT specialists. The government is doing everything to support the youth because we are one of the youngest nations in the world. So, we are trying to support and invest in IT education, and we are glad that companies like Huawei are supporting this initiative.”

Regarding the holding of Huawei’s SFTF 2024 Regional Final, Karimjonov said: “The benefits of SFTF events are that they bring the brightest young minds from around the ME&CA to this unique experience to exchange knowledge, experiences, and good ideas from different countries. In the Middle East they are developing the ICT sector and the same is happening in Central Asian countries, so it is important for them to exchange ideas and vision in this regard. Such events are a good platform and ecosystem to accept and support the youth ideas. I talked to many students from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and other countries and they told me that they never thought there is such a level of development in IT and ICT in Uzbekistan.”

In relation to the bilateral relations with Qatar on digital technologies, Karimjonov said: “We have a very proactive co-operation with Qatar, and we realised a very good progress for the last couple of years. The leaders of Qatar and Uzbekistan exchanged several high-level state visits. This is very beneficial for officials and facilitates co-operation between them to develop new projects.

One of the practical examples is the MoDT’s visit to the Web Summit, one of the biggest global events. Also attending the last edition of CIT For The Future event in Qatar allowed us to learn a lot. At the Web Summit we met many representatives from international organisations, and officials from Qatar, and the ICT sector and we have a very close relationship now.

Next September, we are hosting a global ICT event titled ICT week 2024, and Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar Development Authority, and other big stakeholders in Qatar are attending. This is a historical visit; it is the first time that Qatar is participating in this huge event in Uzbekistan as a partner country.

“Our major assets in bilateral relations with the Qatari government or other governments are talent, and a young population where the average age is 28 years. The Middle East countries have good experience, a lot of financial means and experience in the ICT field. We can provide talent in exchange for the Middle East assets, hence it will be beneficial for both sides. The more we generate talented people the better for both countries.

“Culture and oral understanding are very important. The whole world knows the origins of Islamic contribution to knowledge and that it came from Uzbek Hadith scholar al-Bukhari, and polymath and founder of algebra al-Khwarizmi, and their role in the renaissance era in the world. The latter is the father of algorithm, and all the algorithm of AI and data science nowadays came from the Islamic world. In Uzbekistan we want to engineer a new renaissance, and that is why we are investing a lot in our youth to have new al-Bukharis and al-Khwarizmis who will contribute to the world economy and civilisation along the digital silk road,” Karimjonov concluded.

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