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Good practice Imported

High Technology Park of the Kyrgyz Republic — Central Asia's Tax-Free IT Export Zone

Kyrgyzstan · Bishkek · See the Kyrgyzstan profile · See the Bishkek profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 63% 62/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

A 2011 law created zero-VAT, zero-corporate-tax status for IT exporters in Bishkek; resident revenue grew from $3m (2013) to $15m (2020) and exports reached $130m in 2024 across 500+ resident firms in 63 countries, with the regime made permanent in 2022.

3 million USD
Resident revenue, 2013 (2013)
15 million USD
Resident revenue, 2020 (2020)
500+ companies
Resident companies (2024)
63 countries
Export destination countries (2024)
130 million USD
IT services exports (2024)
High Technology Park of the Kyrgyz Republic — Central Asia's Tax-Free IT Export Zone

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
High Technology Park of the Kyrgyz Republic
Period
2011–present
Keywords
information technology, software export, tax policy, digital economy

Context

The Kyrgyz Parliament passed the Law 'On the High Technology Park of the Kyrgyz Republic' in 2011, offering IT-exporting resident companies 0% VAT, 0% corporate income tax and 0% sales tax (with a reduced 5% personal income tax for employees), provided at least 90% of revenue comes from qualifying IT activity and at least 80% from exports.

Activities

The park administers a preferential tax regime for resident IT-exporting companies based in Bishkek, with eligibility tied to minimum thresholds for IT-activity share and export share of revenue.

Results

Resident revenue grew from roughly $3 million in 2013 to $15 million in 2020, rising a further 20% during the COVID-19 disruption, with exports consistently above 85% of aggregate revenue over the following three years; by 2024, the park counted 500+ resident companies exporting to 63 countries, generating around $130 million in IT services exports; in 2022 Kyrgyzstan's president signed amendments making the preferential tax regime indefinite rather than time-limited.

Conclusions

HTP has publicly stated an ambition to train 50,000 software developers and reach $1 billion in resident revenue, but these are forward-looking targets, not achieved results, and should not be read as current performance; independent, cross-verified employment totals (distinct from company counts) are not available in the sources reviewed.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Kyrgyz Parliament / national government, High Technology Park administration

Conditions for success

  • Simple, clearly thresholded tax rules (90% IT-activity share, 80% export share) rather than a discretionary incentive
  • Making the preferential regime permanent (2022 amendment) to remove sunset-clause investment risk

Common failure modes

  • The stated ambition of 50,000 trained developers and $1B resident revenue remains an unmet forward-looking target, not a current result

Where it fits

Governance type
national legal/tax instrument
Scale
national IT-export sector
Income level
lower-middle-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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