India to boost Kyrgyzstan’s tech sector with multimillion-dollar grant

India will allocate a quarter of a billion soms (approximately $3 million) to Kyrgyzstan in the form of a grant, with the projects aimed at the development of modern technologies, the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic announced.

The funds will be used to establish an IT lab at the Kyrgyz University of Economics in Bishkek and to improve the infrastructure of the Leylek District General Medical Practice Centre, Caliber.Az reports per Kyrgyz media.

Each project will receive 126 million soms ($1.44 million) in grant funding from India.

India and Kyrgyzstan established formal diplomatic relations on 18 March 1992, shortly after Kyrgyzstan’s independence on 31 August 1991, making India one of the first countries to recognise and engage with the young Central Asian republic.

The two countries share a “Strategic Partnership” relationship, declared in 2019, covering defence, security, trade, investment, education and culture.

Under India’s “Connect Central Asia” policy (announced around 2012), Kyrgyzstan is one of the five Central Asian states with which India aims to deepen cooperation across technology, connectivity, culture and development.

In trade and economic terms, while potential remains large, the actual exchange has been modest — for example, bilateral trade in 2022 amounted to around US$118 million but declined in 2023.

By Jeyhun Aghazada