To effectively ensure the rights and legitimate interests of business entities in the country, appropriate structures have been created, whose task, among other things, is to consolidate efforts in the field of entrepreneurship development.
In particular:
- The Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade is the state body of the Republic of Uzbekistan, dealing with export issues, attracting foreign investment and other aspects of the economy and international trade
- Receptions of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan for consideration of appeals of entrepreneurs - ensure the quality and efficiency of the organization of work with appeals of entrepreneurs;
- Foreign Investment Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade - participation in the implementation of the state investment policy to attract foreign investors and creating favorable conditions for the work of foreign businessmen who want to invest in Uzbekistan.
- The Commissioner under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of business entities - provides guarantees for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of business entities;
- Agency for the Development of Small Business and Entrepreneurship - implements a unified state policy aimed at the development of entrepreneurship.
- The Council of Foreign Investors under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan - the main task of the Council of Foreign Investors is to directly participate in creating a favorable investment climate and effective mechanisms to stimulate domestic and foreign entrepreneurs to invest in priority sectors of the economy, as well as to the regions of the country, with the aim of organizing high-tech industries to produce competitive export oriented products.
In turn, the Ministry of Justice is also carrying out consistent work in this direction.
In particular, according to the results of the analysis of law enforcement practice, relevant proposals are developed to eliminate systemic problems that hamper the development of entrepreneurship, as well as aimed at improving the business environment as a whole.
For example, it is expected to introduce a system for assessing the level of entrepreneurship development in the regions of the Republic, which will allow timely identification and elimination of problems that impede the development of entrepreneurship and attracting local investments.
Work is underway to radically improve the licensing system and licensing procedures (proposals will be made to eliminate bureaucratic barriers in obtaining licenses and permits, reduce the number of licenses and permits, and also reduce the time for issuing them).
CHALLENGES IN THE WAY OF EFFECTIVELY ATTRACTING INVESTMENTS AND THEIR SOLUTION
Along with the achieved results, there are also areas requiring appropriate adjustments.
As you know, in advanced foreign countries (USA, England, etc.), the bulk of the financing of the economy comes from equity funds, bonds, and only the smaller one consists of a form of bank financing.
In Uzbekistan, banking sector assets are 130 times higher than the shares of free float.
In particular, today the volume of securities in free circulation is only 0.5% of the country's GDP, the market capitalization of securities at the end of 2017 amounted to 5.9% of GDP.
These are very modest figures, which, on the other hand, show huge potential for growth.
Based on this, in order to develop this direction, in early 2019, the Agency for the Development of the Capital Market was created.
No less important is the course taken to reduce state participation in the economy and the privatization of state assets. In 2020, the Management and Privatization Strategy of state-owned enterprises will be adopted, which provides for the criteria for maintaining state ownership of enterprises and their transformation into efficient enterprises that can compete in the domestic and foreign markets. By 2023, Uzbekistan plans to privatize at least 20 large state-owned companies.
At the same time, one of the main conditions for attracting investments is the provision of guarantees of property rights.
However, recently there have been some problematic issues related to ensuring guarantees of property rights.
In particular, cases of violation of the rights of owners during the seizure and demolition of real estate.
In recent years, the country has been actively working to improve the architectural appearance of cities, improve the living conditions of the population and implement investment projects. These works in some cases were accompanied by the seizure and demolition of real estate, often dilapidated, in disrepair, and also not meeting the requirements of urban planning.
Unfortunately, this process was not always carried out by local authorities in accordance with the requirements of the law, which required the adoption of urgent measures to unconditionally ensure the rights of owners.
Along with this, until recently, there were still bureaucratic barriers and red tape in the allocation of land.
In addition, there were cases of initiation of issues of revision and cancellation of the results of privatization, which negatively affected the confidence of entrepreneurs in ensuring ownership.
The course taken on the policy of openness, direct dialogue with the public, including with entrepreneurs and investors, made it possible to timely identify problematic issues, as well as take effective measures to address them.
In particular, in order to address the above issues, appropriate decisions were taken by the President and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Thus, in recent years, intensive reforms have been carried out under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh. Mirziyoyev, including those aimed at ensuring a favorable investment climate.
At the same time, meetings held with entrepreneurs and investors showed a lack of awareness of the local civil servants on the nature and content of the reforms.
It should be noted that the effectiveness of reforms is determined not by the number of legislative acts adopted, but by the full provision for their implementation.
Based on this, in early November 2019, the legal monitoring system was introduced, aimed at ensuring 100 percent and uniform implementation of legislative acts.
CONCLUSION
Thus, despite the positive results achieved, it seems necessary to continue focused work to improve the investment climate in the country.
First of all, such issues as ensuring reliable protection of the rights and legitimate interests of entrepreneurs, including foreign investors, further strengthening the protection of private property, stimulating the development of competition in the investment market, developing the capital market, improving law enforcement practice, etc. need to be further developed.
The solution of these issues will undoubtedly open up new opportunities for the wide promotion of the investment potential and the republic’s opportunities abroad, as well as positively affect the positions of the Republic of Uzbekistan in such international ratings as the Index of Economic Freedom, the Rule of Law Index, the Corruption Perception Index, where our results so far remain modest.
Kh. Meliev
Executive Officer
Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan
