State Program 2019: Economic Development And Investment Promotion

The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan issued the Decree No. UP - 5635 dated January 17, 2019 (the "Decree") approving a state program for 2019 "The Year of Active Investments and Social Development". The program was devised as a part of the Strategy of Actions for Further Development of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021. It encompasses state incentives that touch all five priority areas; however, this review is concentrated on the area of economy enhancement and attraction of investments.

Priority directions of the State Program

Annex 1 to the Decree provides for a broad range of state incentives and brief descriptions of prospective laws and regulations that are planned to be adopted this year, thereby giving a clear picture about the state's course of action for 2019 and its priorities in the economy. The economic sectors, on which the Government sharpens the focus, are aimed be primarily developed through attraction of direct investments, including foreign ones. Most of the investment projects envisaged by the State Program for 2019 will be implemented in accordance with the State Investment Program for 2019 adopted on December 19, 2018.1 The sources of funding, timeframe, value and purposes of the potential investment projects are reflected in the separate targeted investment programs being constituent parts of the State Investment Program 2019.

Having mentioned the purpose of the review, it is proposed to draw the attention to the following priority directions of the State Program: (i) economic development, (ii) reforming banking and finance systems, (iii) support of private business activities, (iv) reduction of government intervention, (v) agriculture development, (vi) integrated development of regions/towns/cities and their rational use, and (vii) integration into global markets and export support.

In the sphere of economic development, the Government concentrates its attention on the development of textile, oil and gas, energy, precious and nonferrous metals, automotive and chemical industries. In order to combat "shadow economy", it is planned to develop transparent e-economy, including the introduction of the electronic labeling of the goods. With this regard, the Government decided, that starting from August 1, 2019 it would gradually adopt the procedure of mandatory labeling of imported or locally manufactured goods using special security prints or Nano-molecular technology. Not all goods are subject to mandatory labeling, the list of their groups is provided in Annex to Presidential Decree No. PP - 4042 dated 30.11.20182. Moreover, the Government is persistent in continuing with its policy of non-interference with the private...