Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Under the coordination of the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, the Tashkent International Investment Forum is being held. On June 11, a dedicated session titled “Story of Uzum Advancing E-banking into Uzbekistan’s Retail Market” was organized.

The session was moderated by Jonathan Charles, Communications Advisor to the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Discussions focused on the ongoing reforms in Uzbekistan’s banking sector and the government’s strategic vision for broadly implementing digital financial services.

The event featured Djasur Djumaev, founder and CEO of Uzum, who shared his insights on simplifying user experience through digital solutions and filling gaps in the retail market.

“Uzum is not just an e-commerce company, but rather a complete ecosystem,” the Uzum leader said at the beginning of his remarks. The ecosystem includes Uzum Market, the leading e-commerce platform; digital Uzum Bank; Kapitalbank, one of the country’s largest traditional banks; Uzum Nasiya, which provides fintech services; and Uzum Tezkor, the fast delivery service.

The Uzum ecosystem currently has nearly 17 million monthly users. Uzum recently became Uzbekistan’s first “unicorn” - a private company valued at over $1 billion. Currently, more than 11,000 employees work within the ecosystem, and the company has become one of the country’s largest taxpayers.

Djasur Djumaev emphasized that team importance is crucial in creating successful businesses. “I don’t hire managers, but rather invite entrepreneurs into partnership,” he says.

Currently, Uzum has thousands of collection points in over 400 cities throughout Uzbekistan. The company’s warehouse is considered the largest warehouse in Central Asia.

Additionally, the Uzum leader spoke about meetings with investors over the years:

“Investors say various things about us. Those closer to us simply view us as a Central Asian state, while some distant Western investors consider us just one of the “stan’ countries, confusing us with Afghanistan and Tajikistan. However, after several meetings and introductions, their opinion changes completely, and they begin to view Uzbekistan as one of the brightest countries in the region,” says Djasur Djumaev.

Participants noted this session as an important step toward expanding financial services based on innovative technologies in Uzbekistan, increasing efficiency in the retail market, and creating modern infrastructure for investments. This once again confirmed Uzbekistan’s openness, its aspiration for technological progress, and its desire to create a favorable digital ecosystem for investors.