An open dialogue between the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and entrepreneurs took place in New Tashkent

An open dialogue between the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and entrepreneurs took place in New Tashkent.

According to the press service of the head of state, the President congratulated business representatives on their professional holiday and the 34th anniversary of independence. He emphasized their significant contribution to the transformation of every industry, every region, and every mahalla.

Over the past eight years, many sectors of the economy have been reshaped. During this period, $230 billion in investments were attracted, including more than $120 billion in foreign direct investment. In the first half of this year alone, the country’s economy grew by 7.2 percent.

Thanks to the creation of favorable conditions for doing business, the number of entrepreneurs and the scale of their activities have increased. For example, 1,600 microenterprises increased their turnover to more than 10 billion soums within a year and immediately moved into the medium-sized category; 143 enterprises exceeded 100 billion soums in turnover and became large companies; and another 122 small enterprises also grew into the category of large businesses.

As a result of measures aimed at bringing businesses out of the shadow economy, 811,000 new jobs were created in 139,000 enterprises, while in 273,000 companies the wage fund grew by 22 percent. Last year, the average salary in the private sector stood at 4 million soums, while today it is approaching 5 million.

It was noted that since the first open dialogue, nearly one thousand entrepreneurial initiatives have been enshrined in legislation. The current meeting was the fifth of its kind. In preparation for it, meetings were held with nearly 7,000 representatives of 26 industries, and more than 13,000 requests and proposals were received via the call center.

In recent weeks, issues concerning key economic sectors—fruit and vegetable production, textiles, and private entrepreneurship—were discussed, and support measures were defined.

At today’s dialogue, the head of state also announced new initiatives in other areas of entrepreneurship.

First and foremost, the service sector will be actively developed as the most effective means of creating short-term, quick-return jobs. A new program for tourism development is being launched. Over the next three years, 5,000 hectares of land will be put up for auction for the establishment of hotels and tourist facilities. At the same time, entrepreneurs willing to build hotels will not pay for the land—the state will enter the project as a co-founder in the amount of the plot’s value.

Entrepreneurs will be able to buy out this state share at any time within ten years. If the payment is made immediately, a 20 percent discount will apply. Loans for hotel construction will be issued for seven years with a two-year grace period.

Many entrepreneurs are already acquiring state and private properties and converting them into hotels. Now, subsidies provided for the construction of new hotels will also be extended to them. In addition, hotels located outside Tashkent, regional centers, and major tourist zones will be exempt from paying the tourism fee.

Previously, family guesthouses could accommodate no more than 10 tourists per day; now this limit will be doubled.

The President proposed organizing a contest among domestic hotels and family guesthouses. The prize fund will amount to $1 million, and the best facilities, receiving the highest number of positive reviews on leading international platforms, will be rewarded annually.

As infrastructure develops, the number of major tourist zones will increase. Large year-round resorts will be established in Chartak, Fergana, Baysun, and Nurabad districts.

This year, more than 1 trillion soums have been allocated for the accelerated development of 16 districts. In the future, another $500 million will be directed to implement similar projects in 30 more districts. This will create vast opportunities for entrepreneurs in industry, services, and construction, as well as tens of thousands of new jobs.

Business also requires additional space. Therefore, starting next year, state-owned assets will be leased out for a period of five years.

It was noted that the Law “On Lease,” adopted in 1991, was primarily aimed at protecting the interests of state bodies. A new version of the law will be developed to equally protect the rights of both lessors and lessees.

The meeting also identified new opportunities in education and healthcare.

In particular, in 80 districts with low preschool enrollment, entrepreneurs will be granted incentives. They will be allowed to build kindergartens on vacant plots belonging to preschool institutions and schools under public-private partnership terms. At the same time, no land rent will be charged for 30 years. The state will subsidize half of the per-child expenses stipulated for public kindergartens. Entrepreneurs will also be offered preferential loans, and their social tax rate will be set at just 1 percent.

For entrepreneurs creating medical clusters, loans will be provided for seven years with a three-year grace period at 17 percent per annum.

The President emphasized that the most important tool for supporting business is financial services. In this regard, an investment platform will be created to facilitate fundraising for projects. With its help, entrepreneurs will be able to attract up to $1 billion annually.

Today, more than 600 startups are operating in Uzbekistan. In just the first seven months of this year, they attracted a record $264 million in foreign investment.

This work will continue: 1,000 youth startup ideas are planned to be commercialized, with 200 of them entering the international market. Using advanced technologies, 100 local startups will be transformed into globally competitive businesses. For this purpose, $100 million will be allocated.

This year marks the launch of the “Young Entrepreneurs” championship. The 100 best ideas will be selected, and each startup will receive up to 1 billion soums in investment.

To expand digital financial services, a five-year strategy will be adopted, introducing a new ecosystem of “open banking.”

Next year, banks will attract $1 billion for targeted support of small and medium-sized businesses under preferential conditions. An alternative scoring model will be introduced to make access to loans easier.

The meeting also addressed tax administration issues.

Currently, enterprises with an annual turnover of more than 10 billion soums are required to make advance payments of profit tax, which creates difficulties with working capital. Now, this requirement will apply only to enterprises with a turnover exceeding 20 billion soums. As a result, 14,000 entrepreneurs will retain an additional 1 trillion soums in working capital.

Enterprises switching from turnover tax to VAT will be exempt from profit tax for one year. Even in cases of reporting errors, fines will not be applied. In addition, up to 5 million soums of accountants’ salaries will be deductible from taxes paid by such enterprises for six months.

Two years ago, a bookkeeping system for simplified taxpayers was introduced by the tax authorities. Starting next year, entrepreneurs will be exempted from the obligation to prepare reports on land, property, social, and income taxes—these will be compiled free of charge by tax bodies. Businesses will have five days to make corrections to reports.

It is well known that business thrives where the rule of law prevails. In recent years, modern investment instruments—venture capital, bonds, crowdfunding, startups—have been introduced into the economy. Currently, these relations are regulated by dozens of documents.

The President proposed consolidating all these norms into a single direct-action document—an Investment Code. It will unify all rules, guarantees, and procedures in the investment sphere and help stimulate investment.

The head of state also announced another important development: starting in 2026, the principle of “Start a Business in 15 Minutes” will be introduced. Upon registration, an entrepreneur will immediately receive a digital signature, a bank account, and notifications will be automatically sent to state bodies.

The list of goods subject to mandatory certification has been reduced to 459 items and will be further reduced by another 288.

For 32 categories of goods—such as seedlings, mineral fertilizers, footwear, livestock feed—subject to sanitary, veterinary, and quarantine control, certificates of conformity will be abolished.

Overall, the national infrastructure for ensuring product safety, quality, and compliance assessment will undergo a fundamental reform to align with international standards. In particular, the practice of conformity declaration will be widely introduced in place of certification.

The system of technical regulation will be fully transformed: the focus of control will shift from entrepreneurs to the products themselves.

It was noted that all the announced opportunities take effect starting today.

The President stressed that the tasks ahead are ambitious but achievable thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit prevailing in our country.

The meeting continued in an open dialogue format. Entrepreneurs, participating both from central and regional studios, voiced their proposals and remarks. Problematic issues were discussed, and responsible officials were given relevant instructions.