April 18, 2019 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Small and Medium Business and Startups of the Republic of Korea.

Within the framework of the state visit of the President of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in in the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of innovative development of the Republic of Uzbekistan held a meeting with the delegation of the Ministry of small and medium business start-ups Republic of Korea.

During the meeting, a number of promising areas for establishing and deepening bilateral cooperation were discussed. In particular, the meeting discussed the prospect of the Republic of Uzbekistan joining the 50 leading countries of the world by 2030 according to the Global Innovation Index rating, by developing a startup ecosystem based on advanced Korean experience.

The Republic of Korea ranks 12th in the rating of the global innovation index, ahead of countries such as Japan, Italy and Finland. It is worth noting that in the Bloomberg Innovation Index, the Republic of Korea is leading in terms of the level of R & D, higher education and patent activity. South Korea is one of the most striking examples of the dynamic development of the sector of small and medium-sized innovative businesses in recent world history. According to state statistics, today there are more than 3.35 million small and medium-sized innovative enterprises in the country, which is 99.9% of the total number of registered economic entities, with an employment rate of 87.7%. The share of small and medium-sized innovative business in the country accounts for about 46% of industrial production and more than 50% of GDP, and annual exports amount to more than 110 billion US dollars. The availability of optimal conditions for the development of innovative start-ups, as well as technological and service support for start-ups of young entrepreneurs, play a huge role in achieving such indicators.

The parties agreed to organize the participation of Uzbek representatives of small and medium-sized businesses in the K-Startup Grand Challenge start-up competition in November, where participants will have the opportunity to consult with the best Korean companies, participate in seminars, trainings, conferences, networking events, cooperate with individual mentors, as well as, the winners of the competition from Uzbekistan, during the next year will be provided with financial support for the launch of their business projects. In addition, the Korean side, in order to facilitate the exchange of experience in the field of innovative entrepreneurship, expressed its willingness to accept and involve representatives of our Republic in the development of small and medium-sized businesses between the two countries. Moreover, the representatives of the Korean side expressed their willingness and readiness to provide methodological support in the formation of a startup ecosystem in Uzbekistan.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding will provide an opportunity to establish cooperation in the following areas:

- exchange of experience in support and development of small and medium-sized innovative entrepreneurship;

- promotion of partnership projects, inter-agency cooperation and cooperation between enterprises in both countries;

- encouraging bilateral cooperation programs aimed at developing the business infrastructure, innovation ecosystem and related services, in particular incubators, clusters and business angels;

- mutual cooperation in the field of improving the integration of science, education and small and medium-sized businesses;

- cooperation between the Göngi Center for Creative Economy and Innovation and the “Yashnabad” Innovation Technopark.