In 2024, the number of vehicles crossing Uzbekistan's border increased eightfold, reaching nearly 5 million units. At the same time, customs revenues grew ninefold, exceeding 63 trillion soums (approximately $4.88 billion), Daryo.uz reports, citing the press service of the President of Uzbekistan.
The time required for cargo clearance has been reduced to three hours for imports and 20 minutes for exports. Terminals have been built at four major customs checkpoints, and more than 20 have been equipped with new technology. A total of 35 digital services have been introduced, and the export procedure has been simplified from nine to three stages. As a result, Uzbekistan has improved its customs ranking in the logistics index from 140th to 74th place.
The capacity for processing goods in customs zones has expanded, with their share in exports exceeding $1 billion.
Further simplification of this regime is expected to increase this figure to $1.5 billion this year, according to the report.
Given the growth in trade and tourism, passenger and vehicle traffic across the border is expected to double. To speed up border crossings, a system for the advance collection of passenger data for bus routes will be introduced. "Red" and "green" corridors for cars and buses will be tested at the largest checkpoints.
With support from the World Bank, Uzbekistan plans to improve its risk analysis system, which assesses the reliability of businesses based on 122 criteria, including financial stability and tax history. Additionally, artificial intelligence will be used to analyze X-ray images of goods, automatically identifying risks.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
February 25, 2025