IBC presents the first results of the survey on the digital economy

On May 26, 2021, a presentation of the results of the survey of the state and prospects of the development of the digital economy in the Kyrgyz Republic, which the IBC conducted with the support of the USAID Enterprise Competitiveness Project and with the participation of external experts, took place.

The survey considered the best international practices of advanced countries, including the USA, China, Singapore, South Korea, and Ireland, as well as the experience of the EAEU countries — Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Last year, thinking about how to revive the country's economy in a pandemic, IBC saw good prospects in the development of the digital economy and took the initiative to study this sphere in Kyrgyzstan and develop proposals for its development. This initiative found support among business, government agencies, and international organizations.

“We have very proactive, mobile and easy-to-learn people, and we can apply many world practices,” said IBC head Askar Sydykov, highlighting the possibilities of the digital economy, which can contribute to GDP growth of up to 3-4 percent per year, as in developed countries.

The survey focused on the national legislation and practical cases related to the development of e-commerce, banking services and non-cash transactions, postal and logistics services, Internet access including broadband, digital literacy of the population and the main participants in the digital economy.

Kyrgyzstan ranks 97th out of 152 countries in UNCTAD's B2C E-Commerce Index. The index assesses the willingness of countries to develop e-commerce based on four indicators: Internet penetration, the presence of bank accounts among the population, the share of secure servers per 1 million of the population, and the level of development of postal services according to the rating of the Universal Postal Union. In this rating, Kyrgyzstan lags behind almost all CIS countries — Belarus (37th place), Russia (42nd place), Kazakhstan (52nd place), Armenia (66th place), and Azerbaijan (68th place).

The main task in the development of the digital economy in the Kyrgyz Republic is the development of a wide infrastructure for information and communication technologies, access to high-speed Internet.