From Oil Wells to Computer Code: Can Central Asia Become the Next Tech Hub?

For much of the post-Soviet era, Central Asia’s economic development was primarily driven by natural resources.

Kazakhstan exported oil, uranium, and metals. Uzbekistan relied on gold, natural gas, and cotton. Turkmenistan possesses some of the world’s largest natural gas reserves. For a long time, technology played only a minor role in the region’s economic debates.

Today, however, a significant shift is emerging. Across Central Asia, governments are investing heavily in digital infrastructure, startups are attracting international investors, fintech companies are reaching millions of users, and a growing software industry is increasingly targeting customers in Europe, North America, and Asia.

Although the transformation is still in its early stages, for the first time since independence, Central Asia appears less like a collection of resource-dependent economies and increasingly like a potential technology hub.

The key question is: Can the region develop a sustainable technology ecosystem from individual success stories?

Kazakhstan as a Technological Pioneer

In many ways, Central Asia’s modern technology history begins in Kazakhstan.

For a long time, international investors viewed the region as too small, too fragmented, and geographically too remote to produce globally relevant technology companies. This perception changed with the rise of Kaspi.kz.

What began as a financial services provider evolved into one of the most successful super-apps worldwide. The platform combines banking services, payments, e-commerce, and various consumer services into a single digital ecosystem. The company successfully went public on the U.S. stock exchange and is now valued at more than $20 billion.

Kaspi has not only created economic value. The company proved that an internationally successful technology company can emerge from Central Asia as well.

Once this hurdle was overcome, entrepreneurs across the region began asking themselves a new question: Who will be next?

Uzbekistan enters the race

While Kazakhstan provided the first proof of concept, Uzbekistan is now attempting to scale this success.

The country’s first tech unicorn, Uzum, has become the most visible symbol of digital transformation. Following investments from FinSight Ventures and Xanara Investment Management, the company is now valued at more than $1 billion.

Uzum combines e-commerce, digital payment services, logistics, and consumer finance in a model that is deliberately modeled after Kaspi.

Just a few years ago, online shopping in Uzbekistan was a niche market. Delivery times of six to ten days were considered normal, and many consumers preferred traditional bazaars. Today, Uzum delivers goods nationwide within 24 hours. The Uzum Nasiya platform is now one of the leading providers in the “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) sector.

Uzum’s success highlights the rapid transformation of consumer behavior and the country’s digital infrastructure.

The fintech boom is transforming the region

Technological development is particularly evident in the financial sector.

Across Central Asia, many consumers are skipping traditional banking models and moving directly to mobile financial services. As a result, the region is evolving into a dynamic market for digital banking.

A prime example is Georgia’s TBC Bank, which has made Uzbekistan the centerpiece of its international expansion.

Since entering the market in 2020, the bank claims to have built the country’s first fully digital banking ecosystem. Through the platforms TBC UZ, Payme, and Payme Nasiya, the company now reaches a large portion of the Uzbek population.

The development of the banking sector as a whole also underscores this transformation. Over the past five years, Uzbekistan’s banking capital has doubled. Loan portfolios have grown 2.3-fold, while several banks issued Eurobonds for the first time and secured international financing.

For a region long considered financially underdeveloped, this development is remarkable.

Software exports as a new growth strategy

However, fintech alone will not be enough to create a sustainable technology hub. An even greater opportunity may lie in the export of software and IT services.

Governments across the region are increasingly viewing digital services as a tool for diversifying their economies, which have historically been heavily dependent on natural resources.

This is particularly evident in Uzbekistan.

The government aims to increase IT exports to five billion U.S. dollars by 2030. At the heart of this strategy is the IT Park Uzbekistan, which is now home to more than 650 companies. Many of them will benefit from extensive tax and customs incentives until 2028.

According to the Ministry of Digital Technologies, approximately 80 percent of Uzbekistan’s IT exports already go to the United States.

Skilled Worker Immigration as an Unexpected Growth Engine

A significant boost for the technology sector came from an unexpected direction.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, numerous IT professionals left Russia and Belarus. Many of them settled in cities such as Tashkent, Almaty, and Astana.

Uzbekistan took deliberate advantage of this development. As part of resettlement programs, skilled workers were actively recruited and supported in establishing new businesses.

The significance of this immigration extends far beyond mere employment figures. The skilled workers brought with them international experience, connections to global markets, technical expertise, and entrepreneurial skills.

This significantly accelerated Central Asia’s integration into the global technology economy.

From Startups to Technology Ecosystems

However, a successful technology hub requires more than just qualified professionals. Functioning financing structures are also crucial.

Challenges remain in this area, but initial progress is visible.

In Uzbekistan, IT Park Ventures, a fund for early-stage financing, was established to support startups with amounts ranging from $10,000 to $1 million.

At the same time, Startup Garage has become one of the region’s most important incubators. The organization has already supported more than 150 startups, several of which have secured multi-million-dollar investments from international investors.

Also noteworthy is the ecosystem’s expansion beyond the region. Startup Garage recently opened a venture studio in Morocco, making it one of the first Central Asian technology initiatives with operations in Africa.

The Challenge of Artificial Intelligence

Despite all the progress, significant challenges remain.

The use of artificial intelligence in Central Asia remains at a comparatively low level. In particular, there is still a significant gap compared to leading industrialized nations when it comes to the application of generative AI.

At the same time, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are among the countries with the highest growth rates in the adoption of new AI technologies in Asia.

This suggests that the existing gap could narrow significantly in the coming years.

Education as the Foundation of Digitalization

The development of human capital is a central component of the regional technology agenda.

In Uzbekistan, the number of students rose to around 1.43 million, more than five times higher than in 2015. At the same time, governments are increasingly investing in technical training, digital skills, engineering, and English language proficiency.

These investments are intended to lay the foundation for a modern knowledge-based economy.

A new economic identity is emerging

The path to becoming a fully-fledged technology hub remains long.

Central Asia lacks the venture capital markets of Silicon Valley, the industrial scaling power of Chinese technology hubs, or the software ecosystems of India.

Nevertheless, a comparison with these leading global locations would be too simplistic.

Ten years ago, there were hardly any internationally known technology companies in the region. Today, Central Asia boasts a publicly traded fintech company with a market value of over $20 billion, several fast-growing technology platforms, a dynamic digital banking system, an expanding software industry, and an increasingly active startup scene.

A Technology Bridge Between Europe and Asia

The transformation is not yet complete, but the direction is clearly visible.

For the first time since independence, Central Asia is developing a shared economic identity that is not based on oil, gas, metals, or cotton.

Instead, software, fintech, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, and digital exports are increasingly taking center stage.

The region may never become the next Silicon Valley. However, it has the potential to play a different, potentially equally significant role: as an emerging technology bridge between Europe and Asia.