THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EXPORT POTENTIAL OF SMALL BUSINESS IN UZBEKISTAN AND THE ROLE OF THE POPULATION'S DIGITAL LITERACY

This article examines the relationship between the population's level of digital readiness and the realization of the export potential of small business entities in Uzbekistan amid the development of e-commerce. Based on an analysis of official statistical data and the results of the author's sociological survey (n=100), a disproportion is revealed between the contribution of small business to the country's GDP (52.2%) and its share in national exports (36.6%), and key limitations in the population's digital readiness are identified — primarily in the field of digital security — which constrain the integration of small business into global digital sales channels. It is shown that increasing the export potential of small business requires combining the development of e-commerce infrastructure with targeted improvement of the population's digital competencies.