The parties announced a strategic partnership in the field of tourism development in Uzbekistan and signed a Memorandum of Understanding involving the accession of the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Mastercard Center for Tourism Innovation (Mastercard Tourism Innovation Hub).
The memorandum was signed by Aziz Abdukhakimov, Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and Nikola Villa, Global Head of the Public Sector, Executive Vice President for Strategic Development of Mastercard.
"The Ministry warmly welcomes cooperation with our partners, Mastercard. This opens up broad prospects for us to improve the payment infrastructure and the experience of staying for domestic and foreign visitors, analytics on expenses and tourist flows, promotion of Uzbekistan as a tourist destination among Mastercard cardholders in more than 200 countries and regions of the world," Aziz Abdukhakimov said.
Nicolla Villa also spoke about the prospects of long-term cooperation with Uzbekistan.
"We are pleased to announce the beginning of long-term cooperation with Uzbekistan on the development of the tourism industry. Uzbekistan has an incredibly rich heritage, amazing culture and impressive sights. This beautiful country has a huge potential, and we are proud of the opportunity to contribute to its development using our technological platform, advanced payment solutions, experience in implementing many cases around the world, data analytics competencies and more," the Vice President of Mastercard shared.
It is worth noting that the Mastercard Tourism Innovation Center will work with the Ministry and subordinate organizations in Uzbekistan in terms of developing joint digital solutions for the government, domestic and foreign tourists, and tourism enterprises. Areas of cooperation also include promoting the development of a safe, reliable and convenient payment infrastructure for travelers and small businesses, providing analytical data to track trends and develop strategies to promote Uzbekistan as a tourist destination, conducting joint research, and sharing best global practices.
For reference: Mastercard is a leading global payment and technology company, currently conducting more than 1,600 government projects in more than 60 countries aimed at stimulating economic growth through digitalization of payments.
