On April 17, 2019, UNDP jointly with the Senate of Oliy Majlis organized a round table where representatives of the public sector, business community and international organizations participated. The event was aimed to inform business community and public about the measures taken by the Government of Uzbekistan to improve business environment in the country, exchange views and prepare recommendations on how to improve doing business in Uzbekistan.

The World Bank Doing Business report is the most authoritative, internationally recognized and most cited research that assesses the ease of doing business in 190 countries of the world using 10 indicators. The country’s position in the ranking not only reflects the business environment, but is also an important criterion for making investment decisions in the international business community.

In the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report, Uzbekistan ranked 76th among 190 countries. Despite the improved position of Uzbekistan, there are rooms for improvement, which were discussed during the round table.

The event served as a unified platform to establish dialogue between government agencies and the business community. In their speeches, representatives of government agencies presented new regulations and measures adopted and developed by the government to improve the position of Uzbekistan in the Doing Business ranking. In turn, participants from the business sector presented an overview of the current situation and emphasized issues that require government’s efforts.

In her opening speech, Matilda Dimovska,UNDP Resident Representative,highlighted that as one of its priorities, UNDP has been supporting private sector development.

“UNDP supports more systematic policies, on the environment for private sector development - on solutions to make the environment for businesses more enabling. We work with the Government and advice on a wide range of reforms such as trade, investments, taxation, business regulation.”

UNDP carried out a number of researches focused on improving doing business in Uzbekistan. One of the recent ones is the “Doing Business Report 2019”, which encompasses the current situation in the country and proposes measures to improve the business environment.

“During the last 2 years we witness dynamic reforms in Uzbekistan. It is also important to understand how these reforms influence the businesses. In this sense, Doing Business Report can be used to see how well the country is doing compared to others and identify areas for further improvement,” added Matilda Dimovska.

The round table provided opportunity to familiarize participants with the activities carried out in every area taken into account by Doing Business ranking and establish discussions on the efficiency of their implementation in practice. These discussions resulted in the formulation of practical recommendations for the Government on how to improve legal framework and regulatory mechanisms for better business environment and investment climate in the country.

UNDP is consistently working to improve both the business environment in Uzbekistan and the country's position in the Doing Business ranking. Previously, UNDP organized a training workshop with an expert from Hungary on the simplification of customs regulations, customs control after the release of goods, determination of customs value, and cooperation with other interested parties. (For more: http://www.uz.undp.org/content/uzbekistan/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2019/03/12/improving-international-trade-through-optimizing-customs-adminis.html)