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Uzbekistan gives up on annual investment programs

16 January 2018 15:37 (UTC+04:00)
Uzbekistan gives up on annual investment programs

By Kamila Aliyeva

The Uzbek government abandoned the practice of accepting annual investment programs, according to Deputy Prime Minister Sukhrob Kholmuradov.

He noted that the annual investment programs proved to be ineffective.

In addition, many enterprises from the “investment lists”, receiving benefits and preferences under these programs, turned out to be unprofitable as a result, according to the official.

“To date, our investment strategy has been similar to patching holes on a broken road. Starting from this year, we decided to refuse this practice. It is necessary to build a new road from scratch, and not try to fix what has become worthless,” he brought this analogy, explaining the reset of the strategy for attracting investments.

So, for the new 2018, Uzbekistan did not accept the traditional investment program. According to the deputy premier, the industries and regions are tasked to develop a ten-year investment attraction strategy. At the same time, forecasted demographic indicators and unique “growth points” for each region or industry should be taken into account.

Later, long-term plans for the development of industries and regions will make it possible to compile short-term three-year programs. It is planned to start operating according them in 2019.

While the regions and industries are developing their strategy, the government will continue to improve the legal field, seeking to make it more attractive for a foreign investor. The main step in this direction will be the adoption of the Investment Code.

The Code not only protects the rights of foreign investors, but also regulates the use of such instruments as “investment visas”, “investment courts”, as well as rules for participation in international arbitration proceedings.

Three-year investment programs will be financed by a new structure, which is not yet established. It will become a single investment fund, which will accumulate budgetary funds and investments of other investors. The purpose of the fund is to control the costs released in accordance with the approved three-year programs.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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