Desertification Fight: Uzbekistan approved a 2026–2030 plan to strengthen anti-desertification efforts, including reforestation across 1.27 million hectares, protective forest belts, and a “Green Samarkand” push to make the city more climate-resilient. Digital Economy: The government moved ahead with an E-bozor platform to digitize markets and shopping complexes, with vendor registration, QR parking payments, and nationwide rollout planned by March 1, 2027. Fintech Access: Uzbekistan is preparing for Apple Pay and Google Pay, with technical work underway and discussions expected in September, after data-law changes that ease where most personal data can be processed. Green Aviation Fuel: Sinopec Engineering signed FEED work for Central Asia’s first large integrated sustainable aviation fuel complex in Uzbekistan, targeting biomass-based SAF and e-SAF production for regional use and exports. AI & Skills: ITU launched the AI for Good Lab to help developing countries build AI readiness, local datasets, compute capacity, and reusable open-weight models—Uzbekistan is included in the sandbox ecosystem. Regional Tech Links: Uzbekistan and Japan discussed expanding digital cooperation and energy projects worth billions, while Uzbekistan also reviewed proposals to boost its startup ecosystem and enable remote company registration for foreign IT professionals. Archaeology: Researchers uncovered a Hellenistic military camp at Iskandar Tepa in Surkhandarya, using ground-penetrating radar and excavations to map a temporary Greco-Bactrian-era defensive layout.