Bishkek, 9-10 November 2021
PARTNERS
PARTNERS
3rd STRATEGEAST STATE AND IT EURASIAN FORUM
BISHKEK, 9-10 NOVEMBER 2021
The StrategEast State and IT Eurasian Forum is an annual event, held in one of the Eurasian capitals, that serves as a unique platform for dialogue between governments and leaders of the IT industry. The inaugural StrategEast State and IT Eurasian Forum took place in 2019 in Kyiv, Ukraine. In 2020, the second Forum was held in Tbilisi, Georgia, in a hybrid online-offline format. The third StrategEast State and IT Eurasian Forum will be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, with the Lead topic: DEVELOPMENT THROUGH COLLABORATION.
The Forum brings together representatives of global and local tech companies, governments, international financial institutions, and development agencies. It provides an opportunity to discuss what needs to be done to enhance the innovative economy across the region and assists Eurasian countries with their integration into the global economy.
- Over 50 high-level speakers;
- Over 150 participants;
- Informal communication between the government officials and the IT leaders;
- Plenty of opportunities for networking.
LEAD TOPIC:
DEVELOPMENT THROUGH COLLABORATION
GOALS:
- To identify common opportunities and challenges of the IT sector in the Eurasian and Baltic countries;
- To suggest practical solutions to the existing challenges in the fields of legislation, taxation and IPR;
- To attract international IT companies and venture funds to the potential of the IT industry in the region;
- To share best practices, experience and knowledge regarding the relations between the government and the IT sector.
PARTICIPANTS:
- Senior representatives of the USA and the EU governments and state agencies;
- Senior representatives of the governments of the Eurasian and Baltic states;
- High-level representatives of the global IT companies, VC funds, investment banks;
- Heads of IT associations and leaders of the IT sector from the region.
AGENDA (Bishkek time, GMT +6)
NOVEMBER 9: OPENING CEREMONY
16:00 – 16:45
Participants registration
17:00 – 17:30
Opening remarks by Akylbek Japarov, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic
17:30 – 18:00
Coffee Break
18:00 – 19:00
Opening remarks:
Anatoly Motkin, President of StrategEast Center for a New Economy
Dastan Dogoev, Minister of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic
Sonata Coulter, Charge d’Affaires, Head of the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek
Ayten Rustamova, Regional Head of the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Arkadiy Dobkin, President of EPAM Systems
Keith Krach, Former Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment
19:00 – 20:00
Keynote speech by Sir Suma Chakrabarti, Former President of the EBRD, Adviser to the Presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on economic development and effective governance, Chairman of ODI Global
20:00 – 22:00
Special reception for the forum participants
NOVEMBER 10: PLENARY DAY
09:00 – 10:00
Participants registration & Welcome coffee
Plenary sessions
10:00 – 11:15
Central Asia as a Digital Hub of Eurasia
Moderator: Eric K. Hontz, Deputy Regional Director – Europe and Eurasia, Center for International Private Enterprise
Speakers:
Dastan Dogoev, Minister of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic
Vadil Galiulin, Director of Account Management at Mastercard
(Uzbekistan,Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan)
Rovsen Geldiiev, Head Specialist, Digital Economy Department, Agency for Transport and Communications, Turkmenistan
Elena Krukovskaya, Chief Operations Officer, Exadel
Ayten Rustamova, EBRD Regional Director for Kyrgyz Republic , Tajikistan and Turkmenistan
Elena V. Son, Executive Director, The American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce (AUCC), The US-Kyrgyzstan Business Council (USKGZBC), The US-Tajikistan Business Council (USTJBC), The US-Afghanistan Business Initiative (USABI)
11:30 – 12:45
Global IT Industry in Eurasia
Moderator: Aktilek Tungatarov, Acting Director at AmCham Kyrgyz Republic
Speakers:
12:45 – 14:00
Networking lunch
Breakout sessions 14:00 – 14:50
Development of IT Parks in Central Asia
Moderator: Filip Stoyanovich, Chief of Party, USAID’s Future Growth Initiative (FGI) for Central Asia
Speakers:
Pirov Abubakr, Specialist of the department of new technologies, Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Tajikistan
Ana Chirita, Strategic Projects Director, ICT Association of Moldova, Project Director at Tekwill, Moldova
Akshay Mathur, Director of ORF Mumbai, India
Chubak Temirov, Acting Director of the High technology park of the Kyrgyz Republic
Tanat Uskembayev, Director of International Relations, Investments and Export Office at Astana Hub
IT Industry in the Kyrgyz Republic
Moderator: Medet Tairov, Chairman of the Innovations, Information and Digital Technologies Committee at AmCham Kyrgyz Republic
Speakers:
Mitsuhiro Maeda, Professor of Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology, Japan
Tattu Mambetalieva, Director, Civil Initiative on Internet Policy, the Kyrgyz Republic
Dinara Ruslan, Founder and CEO, Codify LMS
Natalia Sitnikov, Economic Officer at the U.S. Embassy, Bishkek
Aziz Soltobaev, Executive Chairman KG Labs Public Foundation
Breakout sessions 15:00 – 15:50
New Taxes for New Economy
Moderator: Anatoly Motkin, President , StrategEast Center for a New Economy
Speakers:
Oleksandr Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine
Kubanychbek Isabekov, Head of the Tax Policy Department at the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic
Marine Khurtsidze, Head of Tax and Customs Policy Department, Ministry of Finance of Georgia
Rakhim Oshakbayev, Director at TALAP center for applied research
Daniel Witt, President, International Tax and Investment Center
Smart Fintech Solutions
Moderator: Max Gurvits, USAID’s FGI consultant for National VC Fund – UzVC, Managing Partner, Vitosha Venture Partners
Speakers:
Oguz Aslan, Management Consultant at Mastercard Advisors
Timur Shalekenov, Head of Fintech, BTS Digital LLP, Kazakhstan
Natia Gvazava, CLO Identomat
Bekzhan Mutanov, Deputy CEO of the AIFC Tech Hub
Abdulaziz Sattarov, Founder, UNIRED and Fintech Innovation Hub
15:50 – 16:10
Coffee break
Breakout sessions 16:10 – 17:00
Startups Acceleration: Route to Silicon Valley
Moderator: Chris Burry, Co-CEO at the US Market Access Center
Speakers:
Edil Ajibaev, Founder of PicVPic
Shirin Mukanbetova, Executive Manager, Kyrgyz Software and Services Developers Association
Mansur Mamadjanov, Co-founder and Business Development Manager at Redesign.uz
Daniil Maykovskiy, CMCPartner, New Business Director MCT Agency. Business Development Solutions Turkmenistan
Andre Tikhomirov, Managing Partner at Kolos Ventures, Belarus
New Education for the New Economy
Moderator: Viktoria Petrova, Head of Exploration – UNDP Accelerator Labs
Speakers:
Farhod Boboev, Farhod Boboev, Deputy Director SUE “Smart City” under Executive State Authority of Dushanbe city
Professor Sohail H. Naqvi, the Rector of the University of Central Asia (UCA)
Oleg Yakimchuk, Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy Google Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyz Republic
Lilit Yezekyan, Research Director at the Caucasus Research and Resource Center, Armenia Foundation
Nurzhamal Yrysbekova, Project Manager of Techaim and Project Lead or Khan Academy Kyrgyz Project
Vadim Zelenkov, Training and Development Director at EPAM Systems
Breakout sessions 17:10 – 18:00
Blockchain as a Good Governance Technology
Moderator: Altynbek Ismailov, Ex-Chairman of the State Committee of Information Technology and Communications of Kyrgyz Republic (2020-2021)
Speakers:
Silver Kelk, Business Development Manager, Guardtime Estonia
Mariam Turashvili, Head of Project Management and Sales Service, National Agency of Public Registry
Vasyl’ Zadvornyy, CEO at Prozorro, Ukraine
Inclusive Development of Eurasian Tech
Moderator: Nikolay Yarmov, Senior AmCham Advisor USAID’s FGI Project
Speakers:
Kate Bunina, Managing Director, USMAC and Program Director at Prospera Women
Elena Chigibaeva, Co-Founder and Project Manager at Public Foundation Techaim Kyrgyz Republic
Valeriya Ionan, Deputy Minister for Eurointegration at Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine
Natia Kapanadze, Gender and Youth Expert, the USAID Economic Security Program
Asel Kubanychbekova, Regional Coordinator for the WAGE Project in Central Asia – CIPE Europe & Eurasia
How Can Eurasia Reap the Data Dividends: Opportunities for Data-Driven Transformation
MODERATOR : Louise Chamberlain, Resident Representative in Kyrgyz Republic, UNDP
CO-MODERATOR : Oleg Petrov, Senior Digital Development Specialist, World Bank
Part 1. Opening and Keynotes:
18:00 – 18:05 Welcome and Introduction by Louise Chamberlain and Oleg Petrov
18:05 – 18:10 Welcome Remarks by Dastan Dogoev, Minister of Digital Development, the Kyrgyz Republic
18:10– 18:40 Keynote presentations:
World Bank Development Report 2021 “Data for Better Lives” by Vivien Foster, Chief Economist for Infrastructure, World Bank
Experience and Vision of Korea on Data-Driven Transformation by Jong-Sung Hwang, Lead researcher at the National Information Society Agency, Korea
Part 2. Panel discussion:
18:40 – 19:30 How Can Eurasian countries Reap the Data Dividends and Accelerate Data-Driven Transformation: Key Priorities and Next Steps
Speakers (TBC):
Olga Tumuruс, Head of the Electronic Governance Agency of the Republic of Moldova
Olexander Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Ukraine
Askar Zhambakin, Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Kazakhstan
Tamerlan Taghiyev, Acting Head of the Center for Analysis and Coordination of the Fourth Industrial Revolution under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan
LOCATION
Hyatt Regency Bishkek
191 Abdrahmanov Street, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 720011
StrategEast is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in the United States with regional offices in Ukraine and Georgia.
The mission of StrategEast Center for a New Economy is the development of a new economy in the countries of Eurasia through the transition from a natural-resource-based to a knowledge-driven economy.
Our work is focused on the 14 countries, which proclaimed or restored their independence following the collapse of the USSR: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
For more information about StrategEast State and IT Eurasian Forum 2019 in Kyiv:
https://forum.strategeast.org/strategeast-state-and-it-eurasian-forum-2019
For more information about StrategEast State and IT Eurasian Forum 2020 in Tbilisi:
https://forum.strategeast.org/forum-2020-summary
USAID’s Future Growth Initiative spurs productive economic activity across Central Asia, with the goal of increasing local competitiveness, creating new jobs, and improving incomes for Central Asia’s growing workforce https://www.facebook.com/FGICentralAsia.
CONTACTS
Praskovja Bystrova (general coordination)
Stanislav Kovalchuk (local coordination)