TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, December 10. Uzbekistan aims to increase the share of cashless payments made by the population in the trade and services sectors to 75% by 2030, Trend reports via the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan.
The initiative is stipulated in a presidential decree signed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and forms part of a broader strategy titled “On Additional Measures to Promote Cashless Payments and Reduce the Share of the Shadow Economy.”
In addition, the decree sets the following key targets for reducing the share of the shadow economy by 2030:
• to reduce the share of the unobserved economy in relation to gross domestic product by 1.3 times;
• to raise the share of employment in the formal sector of the economy in the total economically active population to 64%;
• to improve Uzbekistan’s position by at least 30 places in both the Index of Economic Freedom and the Corruption Perceptions Index.
Uzbekistan initiated the modernization of cashless payments around 2004 with the launch of the Uzcard system, gaining momentum after 2017 due to market reforms. The formalization of e-money occurred in 2020, leading to significant digital growth and aiming for widespread electronic/QR code payments by 2026. Key developments include the launch of the card processing system around 2004, increased use of salary cards from 2015 through 2017, and the government's "Digital Uzbekistan 2030" initiative post-2017, which expanded ATMs and POS terminals.
The first e-money system, OSON, was registered in June 2020, and the ongoing 2020s have seen a substantial rise in digital payments and contactless technologies, with mandates for unified QR codes and cashless public transport expected by 2025/2026.
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