Development of E-commerce in Uzbekistan (Part 1)

Almost everybody in any Western country, from an experienced businessman to an ordinary teacher, cannot imagine life without an account in a certain payment system. More and more goods are being purchased in online stores, this fact alone is able to pose serious competition to ordinary supermarkets. In this article we will try to conduct a brief overview of the e-commerce development in Uzbekistan - the sphere which is relatively new to the country but is rapidly developing worldwide.

The active implementation of informational technologies in Uzbekistan has lead to an increase in the government activity of computerization in the areas of economy and banking. The appearance of terms such as 'electronic payment system' and 'e-commerce' has also taken place. Now these terms are no longer grating ears and gradually penetrating the lives of ordinary citizens.

“Web Money”, a world recognized company, whose office in Uzbekistan was the first officially registered system of e-commerce, can fairly be considered an e-payments pioneer in Uzbekistan. The office began its activity in 1998, however, it did not offer any kind of services.

Aimed at the stimulation of e-commerce development, the following laws were passed in Uzbekistan: “On electronic payments” as of 16.12.2005, Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers No.120 as of 12.06.2007 “About measures on further development payments conduct under e-commerce actualization”, Decree of Central Bank general board “About organization Rules of payment systems, which use public telecommunication networks” as of 02.01.2008.

The active development of e-commerce in the Republic of Uzbekistan began around June 2006, when the first electronic payment system “Pay Net” was created. This time can commemorate the start for the practical implementation of electronic commerce systems in Uzbekistan.

However it is worth mentioning that during the first years of its activity this system had several disadvantages: particularly territorial limitations (operation only in Uzbekistan); the absence of access to general public (only dealers – owners of “Pay Net” outlets); a low level of protection; and, most importantly, – an absence of functions which allow to use the system fot trading operations. Those days “Pay Net” only supported payments for various services to the population.

The second e-commerce development stage begins in 2007, when a representative office of the international electronic payment system “Web Money” began its operation in Uzbekistan. This system differs from others with its high protection level and practicality for ordinary users.

It was specifically “Web Money” whcih was the first to create a platform for a full e-commerce cycle organization (online stores, trading of goods through Internet, input and output of money) on a legal basis.

In April-May 2007, according to the instruction of the Prime Minister, Sh.Mirziyaev, the ministries of finance and economy summed up the preliminary results concerning the implementation of e-commerce in Uzbekistan. After the meeting in May 2007 several companies on e-commerce systems development were created and the activity of the already existent companies increased.

In particular, the following companies were formed during that period: “Multisoft Solutions” (trade mark “E-Karmon”), “Mobile Link Services” (trade mark “Mobliss”), the payment systems “Unipay”, “E-Pay”, “Superkassa”, “Fast Pay” and others.

It is necessary to mention that during 2007 “Web Money” office in Uzbekistan won the respect of information communications technologies specialists, since it began to offer high quality service for e-commerce. For example, the trading of Internet providers and cellular operators cards, electronic books and software were organized.

In order to provide more convenience to users, in 2007 “Web Money” office in Uzbekistan had organized the tying of electronic accounts to a plastic card of “SavdogarBank”.