With the theme “Entrepreneurship, Firm Dynamics, and New Technologies," this conference promoted the exchange of new research and ideas among researchers, development practitioners, and policymakers on significant and emerging topics in economic development. Top researchers in the fields of development, trade, and management, as well as country experts and entrepreneurs participated in the event.

Drastic changes happened with the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, including the transition from central planned to a market-based economy.

In a brown bag session, Lyubov Tsoy, intern at Asian Development Bank's Public Management, Finance, Sector, and Trade Division of the Central and West Asia Department, presented a comparative study on the role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in economic development. This study specifically looked into SME development trends and trajectories in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan after the collapse of the Soviet Union.