VALETTA, Malta. May 11, 2026 Representatives of Uzbekistan received two international awards at the Global Startup Awards Grand Finale, which was held as part of the EU-Startups Summit in Valletta. The event brought together participants from more than 54 countries and focused on innovation, startup development, and international investment ecosystems. The Global Startup Awards is an international platform that recognizes startups, founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders. The initiative connects innovation communities across 154 countries and 19 regions. According to the results of expert evaluations and international community voting, representatives from Uzbekistan won in two global categories. Rakhimakhon Nugmanova, founder of the startup Peritech, received the “Ecosystem Hero of the Year” award. In addition, Catextra was named “Best Greentech Startup of the Year.” The awards followed the regional final of the Global Startup Awards Central Asia, which took place in Tashkent in September 2025 during ICT WEEK Uzbekistan 2025 with support from IT Park Uzbekistan. The regional event was aimed at supporting Central Asian startups in entering international markets and establishing connections with investors and ecosystem representatives. Catextra’s award in the greentech category highlighted projects from Uzbekistan working in environmental innovation, sustainable development, and green technology solutions. Catextra operates as a platform focused on transparency, traceability, and responsible production in the textile industry. The startup offers tools that allow manufacturers to map, verify, and track supply chain processes. The platform is intended to help companies confirm product origin, improve production transparency, and demonstrate compliance with ethical standards. Source Link: https://daryo.uz/en/-vcpWI0vR Alexander Solomon Report is a socio-corporate media platform of highlights on company news and industry events. The ASR TV Exposé offers higher interests and wider readership in return for mileage. For postings and publicity, email to info@alexandersolomonreport.com

OSLO, Norway. May 7, 2026 At its meeting on 6 May 2026, the Committee decided to raise the policy rate from 4% to 4.25%. Policy rate raised to 4.25% Norges Bank’s Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee decided to raise the policy rate from 4% to 4.25% at its meeting on 6 May. The monetary policy outlook does not appear to have changed materially since the monetary policy meeting in March, but there is substantial uncertainty about future economic developments. At the monetary policy meeting in March, the Committee’s assessment was that it would likely be appropriate to raise the policy rate at one of the forthcoming monetary policy meetings. Unexpectedly high inflation and higher wage growth prospects than previously assumed implied that inflation would become higher than the Committee had envisaged. The increase in oil and gas prices due to the war in the Middle East could push up inflation further. At the same time, the Committee placed emphasis on the fact that it was difficult to assess underlying inflation pressures, and that the uncertainty surrounding oil and gas prices was unusually elevated. The Committee therefore wanted to await further information on the prospects for inflation. “The Committee judged it appropriate to raise the policy rate at this meeting. Inflation is too high and has run above target for several years. The information on the inflation outlook we have received in recent weeks supports the analyses we presented in March”, says Governor Ida Wolden Bache. Since the March monetary policy meeting, the Committee has noted the following: The war in the Middle East is still causing substantial uncertainty about the economic outlook. The temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran has not yet led to normal shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Oil spot prices remain elevated, and futures prices are little changed since March. Gas prices have fallen, while various other commodity prices have risen. Overall external price pressures appear to be slightly stronger than expected in March. In Norway, inflation has been broadly as projected. Twelve-month CPI inflation rose to 3.6% in March, while CPI inflation adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy products (CPI-ATE) was unchanged at 3%. In this year’s wage settlement agreement, the norm for wage growth in manufacturing was set at a level close to our March projection of overall annual wage growth. The krone has appreciated and is stronger than assumed. A stronger krone will dampen imported price inflation. Labour market developments have overall been broadly as expected, and capacity utilisation still appears to be close to a normal level. Preliminary figures for the number of salaried employees indicate that employment has increased further in recent months, while registered unemployment is unchanged. According to LFS data, unemployment has increased slightly so far this year. The Committee’s assessment is that the outlook for the Norwegian economy has not changed materially since the monetary policy meeting in March. Inflation is too high, and there are prospects that inflation will remain elevated ahead. High inflation over time can lead firms and households to plan for persistently high inflation. It may then become more difficult to bring inflation down again. The Committee judges that a higher policy rate is needed to return inflation to target within a reasonable time horizon. The policy rate forecast presented in March indicated an increase in the policy rate to between 4¼% and 4½% by the end of the year. The monetary policy outlook does not appear to have changed materially since that time. “The policy rate forecast presented in March implied the potential need for further tightening of monetary policy later this year. The monetary policy outlook does not appear to have changed materially since March, but the war in the Middle East is still causing substantial uncertainty about the economic outlook”, says Governor Ida Wolden Bache. If the economy takes a different path than currently envisaged, the policy rate path may also differ from that implied by the forecast in the previous Report. New forecasts were not prepared for this meeting. Monetary Policy Report 2/26 will be published together with the policy rate decision on 18 June 2026. Rate effective from 8 May 2026: Policy rate: 4.25% Overnight lending rate: 5.25% Reserve rate: 3.25% Contact: Press telephone: +47 21 49 09 30 Email: presse@norges-bank.no Source Link: https://www.norges-bank.no/en/topics/monetary-policy/Monetary-policy-meetings/2026/may-2026/?tabs=160713 Alexander Solomon Report is a socio-corporate media platform of highlights on company news and industry events. The ASR TV Exposé offers higher interests and wider readership in return for mileage. For postings and publicity, email to info@alexandersolomonreport.com

CHICAGO, US. May 12, 2026 "As the backbone of the digital economy, compute is the new oil of the 21st century," said CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy. CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, and Silicon Data, the industry leader in GPU market intelligence and benchmarking backed by global trading firm DRW, today announced they will launch a first-in-class compute futures market later this year, pending regulatory review. Combining the respective expertise of these market leaders, the new futures contracts will allow traders, financial institutions, AI builders and cloud-service providers to manage volatility and price risk associated with the multi-trillion-dollar compute market. The products will be based on Silicon Data's indices, the world's first daily GPU benchmarks for on-demand rental rates. "As the backbone of the digital economy, compute is the new oil of the 21st century," said CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy. "Every AI model trained, every transaction cleared, and every byte of data processed runs on compute, which is becoming a fast-emerging asset class in its own right. Investors need a trusted futures market to provide transparency, liquidity and effective risk management - all of which fall squarely into CME Group's wheelhouse. We are pleased to partner with Silicon Data, the recognized pioneer in real-time GPU benchmarks, to effectively address this growing market demand." "Compute markets today are still highly fragmented, with pricing that can vary dramatically across providers, regions and contract structures," said Carmen Li, Chief Executive Officer of Silicon Data. "At Silicon Data, we built our benchmarks to bring consistency, transparency and real-time visibility to GPU markets that have historically lacked standardized reference pricing. Partnering with CME Group brings the scale, market structure and credibility needed to help transform compute from an opaque operational cost into a more mature and risk-manageable financial market. The launch of compute futures is an important step toward giving AI builders, cloud providers and investors more reliable tools for valuation, hedging and long-term planning as demand for compute continues to accelerate." "It has been clear to me for some time that compute will become the largest commodity in the world," said Don Wilson, Founder and CEO of DRW. "The exponential growth in spending on data centers as we move towards that reality has been hampered by the lack of a hedging vehicle. The launch of a compute futures market is an important solution to that problem that can help market participants manage price volatility and plan with greater certainty. CME Group's expertise in building resilient, trusted derivatives markets, combined with Silicon Data's benchmarking capabilities, creates an essential foundation for this emerging asset class." About CME Group As the world's leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data – empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, cryptocurrencies, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform. In addition, it operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing. CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex, and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. BrokerTec is a trademark of BrokerTec Americas LLC and EBS is a trademark of EBS Group LTD. The S&P 500 Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC ("S&P DJI"). "S&P®", "S&P 500®", "SPY®", "SPX®", US 500 and The 500 are trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC; Dow Jones®, DJIA® and Dow Jones Industrial Average are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. These trademarks have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Futures contracts based on the S&P 500 Index are not sponsored, endorsed, marketed, or promoted by S&P DJI, and S&P DJI makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. About DRW DRW is a diversified trading firm with decades of experience bringing sophisticated technology and exceptional people together to operate in markets around the world. Headquartered in Chicago with offices around the globe, we trade a number of asset classes, including Fixed Income, ETFs, Equities, FX, Commodities, Cryptoassets and Energy. We are also a champion of innovation and have play a significant role in the founding of companies including Digital Asset, ErisX, Eris Innovations, Silicon Data and The Compute Exchange. About Silicon Data Silicon Data is the market intelligence platform for AI compute, providing the pricing, benchmarking, and financial infrastructure that underpin the industry's most critical decisions. Through real-time pricing indices, performance benchmarks, forward curves, and comprehensive market data spanning GPUs, LLM tokens, and related infrastructure, Silicon Data equips operators, investors, and enterprises with the transparency and analytical rigor required to navigate the economics of AI systems. CME-G SOURCE CME Group Contact Us +1 312 930 3434 Corporate.Communications@cmegroup.com Source Link: https://www.cmegroup.com/media-room/press-releases/2026/5/12/cme_group_and_silicondatapartnertolaunchfirstcomputefutures.html Alexander Solomon Report is a socio-corporate media platform of highlights on company news and industry events. The ASR TV Exposé offers higher interests and wider readership in return for mileage. For postings and publicity, email to info@alexandersolomonreport.com