Uzbekistan to introduce artificial intelligence in customs control

February 24 President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a presentation on improvement and digitalization customs system of Uzbekistan.

Recent achievements

In recent years, the following activities have been carried out: large-scale work on the development of the customs sphere:

• Established preliminary data exchange with 10 countries.
• Created by customs clearance centers and information processing.
• Built modern terminals on four key posts.
• More 20 customs points equipped with the latest technologies.
• Implemented 35 information systemswhich made it possible to reduce the export process from 9 to 3 stages.

Growth of cargo and passenger traffic

Thanks to the implemented reforms:

• Number of vehicles crossing the border, increased by 8 timesby reaching 5 million.
• Customs revenues to the budget increased by 9 timesby exceeding 63 trillion soums in 2023.
• Processing time has been reduced up to 3 hours when importing and 20 minutes when exporting.
• Uzbekistan increased in the international logistics rating by customs indicators from 140th to 74th place.

Next steps

Despite the progress made, there are still unresolved issuesrelated to further information digitalization, speeding up procedures and increased convenience customs administration.

As part of the presentation, the following suggestions were made: new initiatives:

• Speeding up border crossings: implementation systems for pre-receiving passenger data bus services, similar to aviation. This will allow reduce bus registration time by half.
• "Green" and " red " corridors: launch of a pilot project on the largest customs posts for passenger cars and buses.
• Application of artificial intelligence: modernization risk analysis systems supported by the World Bank. It will assess the reliability of entrepreneurs by 122 criteria (financial stability, tax discipline, trade history). AI will also help automate the analysis of X-ray images products.

Human resources development and WTO integration

Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed to bring customs legislation Uzbekistan in compliance with WTO rules as part of the process of joining the organization.

In addition, special attention is paid to development of the Customs Institute, training of personnel in the following areas: artificial intelligence, digital technologies and risk analysis. Planned expanding dual education and improving the practical training of specialists.

The measures taken will allow not only speed up and simplify customs procedures, but also make Uzbekistan a key logistics hub in the region.