TASHKENT (TCA) — In 2016, the government of Uzbekistan took a number of measures aimed at liberalization of the legislation and improvement of the business climate for small businesses and private enterprises, the country’s official Jahon information agency reports.
Today more than half of Uzbekistan’s GDP is produced by small businesses. Small business currently accounts for over 40 percent of industrial and 98 percent of agricultural production.
That is the reason why the government and the head of state attach such big importance to the development and support of small business. 2016 was a milestone year in this regard. During that year, the government streamlined the existing legal and financial mechanisms for the development of the sector, and initiated absolutely new ones, which can bring it to a new level.
In 2016, Uzbekistan canceled dozens of permits and licensing procedures for doing business, introduced a simplified and transparent procedure for granting plots of land to business entities on a competitive basis, connecting them to the engineering and communication networks on a turn-key basis, significantly expanded the scope of their financial support and lending.
The above measures resulted in the creation of more than 29 thousand new small businesses in the first 11 months of the past year, which is 16.2 percent more than in the same period in 2015. The largest number of small businesses was created in the industry and construction (30.8%), trade sector (26.3%), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (10.5%), and accommodation and food services (9%).
Last year, the country also established the institution of Business Ombudsman in the parliament.
