The government of Uzbekistan plans to allow MITC departments to conclude contracts with the Chinese company Huawei for the supply of technological equipment and software in order to develop 5G networks.

According to the draft government decree, the China Development Bank will allocate a loan of $40 million for implementation of projects for the modernization and development of the telecommunications infrastructure of Uzbektelecom.

The Chinese bank will provide a loan for a period of 5 years with a grace period of 1.5 years and an interest rate of six months plus 4.2% per annum, including a margin of the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the amount of 1% per annum.

The document states that within the framework of Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s working visit to China on April 24-27, 2019, an agreement was reached on the development of cooperation in the field of information and communication technologies with Huawei.

Uzbektelecom will be allowed to enter into contracts with Huawei for the supply of technological equipment and software products as part of the projects “Development of telecommunications networks with the prospect of introducing 5G technologies”, “Expansion of data storage and processing center” and “Introduction of wireless technologies for connecting to broadband Internet access”.