1. What is the “Foreign Investors Council"
The Foreign Investors Council under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (hereinafter - the Council) is an advisory and advisory body under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The Council carries out its activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan, decrees of the chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, decrees, decrees and orders of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, decrees and orders of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, other legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The Council is an institutional platform for direct dialogue between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and representatives of investors, including foreign companies, banks, investment and other structures, international financial institutions operating in the Republic of Uzbekistan, coordinated by the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade, with the assistance of the European Bank for Reconstruction and development.
2. Goals, tasks and functions of the Council
The purpose of the Council is the further development of a favorable, non-discriminatory, transparent and constructive business environment in Uzbekistan, which helps to attract investment, primarily foreign, through an open and constructive dialogue between government bodies of the Republic of Uzbekistan and representatives of international financial institutions, foreign companies, banks, investment and other structures operating in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The main tasks of the Council are:
- effective identification of key obstacles to attracting investment and the work of investors, including foreign ones, and ensuring a favorable business environment and investment climate in the Republic of Uzbekistan;
- development of solutions to eliminate these obstacles through the joint efforts of state bodies of the Republic of Uzbekistan and representatives of foreign companies, banks and investment structures, as well as international financial institutions operating in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The functions of the Council are:
- facilitating a constructive dialogue between state bodies and the private sector regarding the necessary steps to address the most pressing issues of economic and private sector development, improve the business environment and stimulate investment, especially foreign ones;
- identifying the main barriers to attracting investments, primarily foreign ones, in various sectors of the economy, and developing measures to improve the business environment and investment climate, and further integrating the economy of the Republic of Uzbekistan into global value chains, as well as developing and proposing appropriate amendments to the legislation Republic of Uzbekistan;
- development of recommendations, including in the form of draft relevant regulatory legal acts with the application of auxiliary assessment reports for consideration by the Government and other state bodies of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
- facilitating the exchange of experience and best practices in the field of reform and bringing state regulation with other countries to ensure the achievement of the goals of the Council.
participation in the development of a strategy for coordinating and prioritizing the investment policy of the Republic, as well as attracting foreign investment in the country's economy.
Interim Session of the Foreign Investors Council under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of November, 20, 2019
The Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan S. Umurzakov, Managing Director of the EBRD for Central Asia B. Balvanera, Head of EBRD Representative Office in Uzbekistan A. Drakinos, representatives of the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Heads of the State Assets Management Agency, the Ministry of Economy and Industry and the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan attended the session.
The event called on and considered number of constructive proposals related to the agenda. In particular, the participants proposed to introduce such terms as ‘holding company’, ‘pass-through taxation’ and various classes of shares and other world-wide corporate law concepts into the Uzbek Law, as well as provide the investors with greater flexibility in defining of corporate policy.
They selected a unified view on the prospects of accelerated privatization of commercial banks through the sale of controlling interest to interested investors, as well as optimization of Banks’ current activity in Uzbekistan by digitalizing the banking system and introducing advanced products and practices.
The participants discussed the need to develop a legal basis for establishment and operation of branches of foreign commercial organizations and a single electronic registry reflecting full data about business entities and enabling lookback analysis of each company from the very establishment. Leading international consulting companies vested an interest in active launch of initiatives announced.
The meeting resulted in signing of loan agreements between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on the following projects (totally USD 246.1 million):
- construction of a 220 kV line, 500kW sized, 177 km long from the Navoi TPP to the 220 kV switching point Besopan (loan amount – USD 96.1 million, implementation agency - National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan JSC);
- reconstruction and construction of a sewage systems in Karshi, Kashkadarya region (loan amount – USD 60.0 million, implementation agency – the Ministry of Housing and Public Utilities);
- reconstruction and construction of a sewage system in Urgench, Khiva and Pitnak of the Khorezm region (loan amount – USD 90.0 million, implementation agency - the Ministry of Housing and Public Utilities).
Interim Session of the Foreign Investors Council under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of April, 16, 2019
In preparation for the first meeting of the Foreign Investors Council under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, an intermediate session of the Council was organized on April 16 at the Hotel International Hotel Tashkent with the participation of representatives of major foreign manufacturing and consulting companies and international organizations. The event was organized by the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
During the session, investors were able to identify their own positions on the coordination of investment activities, the protection of foreign capital and the role of the state in regulating these processes, while noting the feasibility of optimizing individual monitoring procedures for project implementation. All voiced proposals will be taken into account when forming the agenda of the first meeting of the Foreign Investors Council.
