A panel discussion in Tashkent has addressed issues in raising Uzbekistan’s international rating in doing business.
The roundtable was organized by the Trade and Industry Chamber of Uzbekistan in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program projects “Assistance in the Development of Trade” and “Business Forum of Uzbekistan”.
The event gathered the representatives of ministries and other government agencies, nongovernmental nonprofit organizations, scientific research institutions, international organizations as well as entrepreneurship entities.
The panel discussion sought to address and work out proposals with regard to bolstering Uzbekistan’s international rating in doing business. The ranking is shaped in accordance with research methods of the International Financial Corporation, an institution of the World Bank.
Chairman of Uzbekistan’s Trade and Industry Chamber A.Shaikhov noted that one of the critical dimensions of the economic policy spearheaded under the leadership of President Islam Karimov is the steadfast perfection of the business environment in the country. Wide-ranging efforts have been undertaken toward creating conditions conducive for the development of small business and private entrepreneurship as well as the extensive attraction of domestic-origin and foreign investments into the economy.
Notably, more than eighty types of licensing procedures were removed last year, as were the 15 types of license-required activities. 65 varieties of statistical reporting were reduced, so was the frequency of their submission in 23 types of such reporting. In addition, 22 kinds of interactive tax administration services were introduced. The time frames in the certification of essential licenses were reduced twofold, while the costs of such procedures went down by fivefold.
As a result of these measures, Uzbekistan’s position has risen considerably in the Doing Business 2014 rating of the World Bank and the International Financial Corporation. In line with the report, the country has improved its standing in such criteria as the registration of business and property, licensing construction works, lending and international trade.
The roundtable participants discussed issues pertinent to further simplification in the terms of doing business and watched presentations narrating Uzbekistan’s international rating and other nations’ experience on this front.
“The top rating in doing business is assigned to those countries where the legislation facilitates the interaction among market players and protects vital social interests,” says A.Nasibov, project coordinator of a consultative program of the International Financial Corporation for the consolidation of financial infrastructure in Central Asia and Azerbaijan. “The rise in the positions of Uzbekistan in the Doing Business rating is an indicator of the effectiveness of legislative acts being introduced to support and encourage private entrepreneurship.”
Toward the end of the event, the roundtable participants worked out proposals dedicated to boosting Uzbekistan’s rating in doing business.
