Uzbekistan aims to train 5,000 fintech specialists by 2030

By 2030, Uzbekistan plans to train 5,000 fintech specialists, according to a presidential decree. However, as participants in the session "The School on the Silk Road: Demographic Dividend, or Demographic Debt?" noted at the Silk Road Finance and Technology Forum in Tashkent on August 25, the key challenge is not so much training itself as retaining this workforce.

The session's moderator, Keio University professor and founder of the Safecast project Peter Franken, asked about the priorities of training, funding, and retention. Former Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge identified training as the main constraint, believing that other issues could be addressed through other means.

At the same time, Leiming Chen, Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer of Ant International, and Abdelaziz Nossier, Executive Director of the Egyptian Banking Institute, emphasized the importance of retaining specialists. They noted that fintech talent is in high demand globally and, without clear career prospects, is inclined to seek employment abroad.

Gulnoza Ismailova, Executive Director of the El-Yurt Umidi Foundation for the Development of Promising Personnel under the President of Uzbekistan, reported that the foundation was reorganized in 2026 and now reports directly to the President. The foundation annually analyzes the personnel needs of government agencies and regions, supports undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs at 300 leading global universities in approximately 30 countries, attracts international faculty, and organizes dual degree programs.

Ismailova also noted that until last year, grant recipients were required to work only in the public sector, but this requirement has now been extended to large taxpaying companies and IT Park residents, expanding employment opportunities after studying abroad. According to her, the main challenge is determining who exactly should be included among these 5,000 specialists: engineers, cybersecurity specialists, data scientists, regulators, or policymakers.

Njoroge, drawing on the experience of introducing mobile money in Kenya nearly 20 years ago, emphasized the critical importance of applied on-the-job training in addition to a traditional university education. He noted that many graduates have degrees but are unprepared for real-world challenges without additional practical training. He also believes that the outflow of specialists abroad is not a loss, as they acquire new skills and either return to train others and take on higher positions, or become part of the diaspora, starting companies at home or serving as a bridge to foreign markets.

Chen spoke about Ant International's "10 by 1000" program, through which the company commits to training at least 1,000 digital leaders annually for at least ten years. Since 2018, this program has trained approximately 10,000 people in 110 countries and regions. She added that during the forum, company representatives met with the First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan to discuss the launch of this program in the country.

Nossier presented his institute's three-tiered approach to training: for future senior executives, a selection program through psychometric testing and a year-long training program with international internships; for the general public, a free online financial literacy platform accessible with a national ID; and for current bank employees, competency-based training, which is reviewed every three years based on a survey of bank HR directors on necessary skills. He also recommended that countries establishing similar institutes initially incorporate not only training but also mentoring, assessment, and recruitment support, as well as proactively build governance and stakeholder relationships.

At the end of the session, Franken announced the launch of his own mentoring initiative and invited those in the room to become mentors for talented youth in Uzbekistan for a year, with a subsequent report to the forum next year.