GSMA M360 in Uzbekistan: How AI and 5G Will Transform Eurasia’s Economy by 2030

Mobile technologies will add $270 bn to Eurasia’s economy by 2030. The forecast comes from GSMA’s Mobile Economy Eurasia 2025 report released this week in Tashkent. The report highlights rising smartphone adoption, 5G growth, and AI’s role in public services.

GSMA M360 Eurasia took place on May 21-22 in Tashkent, its first time in Uzbekistan.
The event gathered telecom operators, ministers, and innovators to discuss digital inclusion and infrastructure.

The summit was co-hosted by Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Digital Technologies and Beeline Uzbekistan, part of VEON. Talks focused on improving regional connectivity and supporting languages often left out of AI models.

Key report highlights

• Mobile will generate $270 bn in regional GDP by 2030, or 8.3% of total output
• 5G connections will hit 143 mln by 2030, covering 41% of mobile users
• 164 mln people already use mobile internet across the region
• But 80 mln remain offline despite network coverage

A major feature was Kaz-LLM, a language model trained in Kazakh, Turkish, English, and Russian. It was developed by Kazakh institutions and QazCode, with VEON, GSMA Foundry, and Barcelona’s supercomputing centre. The goal is to reduce the AI language gap for low-resourced regions.

Other GSMA Foundry demos included its work with IBM on Watsonx.ai for GSMA members.
Another project with the European Space Agency explored Non-Terrestrial Networks for future coverage.

«Connectivity is a powerful source of economic growth and a tool to transform businesses and public services across the region. Last year, mobile technologies and services generated 7.7% of GDP across Eurasia, delivering $220 bn of economic value, and this will keep growing to $270 bn by 2030. M360 Eurasia provides a great platform to discuss how to accelerate the regional digital progress through collaboration, innovation, and ambition and I look forward to the coming days’ debates,» Vivek Badrinath, GSMA’s Director General, said.

GSMA M360 Eurasia spotlighted Central Asia’s role in the future of mobile and AI.
The event showed how emerging markets can lead in inclusive, multilingual tech innovation.

Earlier, Kursiv Uzbekistan spoke with Vivek Badrinath, GSMA’s Director General and Board Member, who emphasised that closing the region’s mobile usage gap could unlock up to $415bn in additional GDP by 2030