Bahama Times

Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Uzbekistan sets out an ambitious road map to becoming a key start-up hub

Uzbekistan sets out an ambitious road map to becoming a key start-up hub

In a major national event held physically in Tashkent and virtually across the country on August 20, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev talked to around 10,000 entrepreneurs, addressing concerns and laying out plans for a root and branch reform of business and tax regulations.

The Central Asian republic has been slowly transitioning to a market economy since Mirziyoyev took power in 2016. An overhaul of economic policy has seen inflation reduced and the currency stabilised, attracting overseas investment and boosting job creation.

As a result, the number of new business owners has almost tripled, and previously established businesses have expanded across the country. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have become a major driver behind Uzbekistan’s remarkable economic growth, which has defied the challenges of the pandemic.

SMEs already employ around 78 per cent of the nation’s workforce and contribute 57 per cent of Uzbekistan’s GDP.

“The private sector accounts for 90 percent of the jobs created annually in the country,” said Mirziyoyev, in a speech at the event. “The fact that it now employs more than five million people, mainly young people, testifies to its growing role not only in the economic, but also in the social life of the republic.”

Traditionally, the country has relied on substantial exports – particularly of cotton, gold, gas and oil – to keep the economy afloat, but Mirziyoyev's vision for the future will see a much broader diversification.

The country is moving away from the export of natural gas, for example, and there has been major investment in downstream processing intended to generate feedstock for clusters of value-adding manufacturing.

Drivers for the economy include an IT park in Tashkent, where SMEs can make use of tax breaks designed to free up capital for investment. Early-stage start-ups can also take advantage of the park’s incubator.

Education is also a key priority, and one of the challenges faced by the country is to expand the pool of talent in order to attract foreign investment.

Oiling the wheels of growth


Defying the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has continued to adopt or adapt a raft of regulations. Over the last five years, around 2,000 laws, decrees and resolutions have been drafted to help small businesses.

Strides have been made in abolishing unnecessary red tape, and procedures have been simplified. Inspections have been brought down to the minimal levels necessary, and restrictions governing currency and raw materials have been lifted.

Mirziyoyev spoke about the need to improve in seven areas: business financing; the tax system; the procedures for land acquisition; development of infrastructure; support for export companies; the transport and logistics sector and to simplify business procedures.

Matters related to business financing made up almost half the concerns of entrepreneurs invited to send in their queries. Many called for a solution to high-interest loans on prohibitively short timescales. Loans in foreign currencies were seen as particularly problematic, given the fluctuations of the exchange rate.

In order to address this, the Ministry of Finance is creating a loans system in local currency, and banks will next year receive US$600 million from the Fund for Reconstruction and Development on Market Principles.

Taxation, too, has seen some beneficial changes for those creating businesses. Among other improvements, taxable income will take expenditure into account, and the process for VAT refunds will be speeded up.

In a nod to the difficulties of the last 18 months for the hospitality sector, restaurants will be made exempt from property taxes, and hotels will see a two-year break from tourist taxes.

A major headache for any post-Soviet economy is land distribution, and various measures have been introduced to address this. The regulations around sale and purchase have been tightened, with agricultural land leased on the basis of open tender and non-agricultural land sold through auction.

Other announcements welcomed by attendees at the event included state-guaranteed provision of electricity, water, gas and road infrastructure for large projects; preferential loans for export companies; and continued subsidies for railway networks.

The conference provided a hugely successful way for business owners to communicate with those in power, and President Mirziyoyev plans to turn this into a regular event.

He has also proposed that August 20 should be named Entrepreneurs' Day.

“Together we have found practical solutions to many issues and problems,” he said. “Based on the topical issues you raised, and the specific proposals you made for their solution, we can see how the knowledge and level of our entrepreneurs have increased…today you are using completely different working methods and innovative approaches.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bahama Times
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×