On June 11th, the third general session of the Council of Foreign Investors under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan took place at the International Congress Center. The President's press service reported about this.
The event, chaired by the leader of our state, was attended by the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Odil Reno-Basso, and leaders of leading companies and banks such as “Masdar”, “Indorama”, “ACWA Power”, “Vision Invest”, “DataVolt”, “Veon”, “Boeing”, “Air Products”, “SpaceX”, “Meta”, “John Deere”, “Franklin Templeton”, “Suez”, “EDF”, “Total Energies”, “Voltalia”, “Orano”, “Linde”, “Claas”, “Sojitz”, “Bomi”, “OTP Bank”, “Goldwind”, “Çalik”, “Çengiz”, “Aksa”, “JBIC”, as well as representatives of international organizations and financial institutions - the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation.
The main tasks of the Council consist of advising on the most important directions for investment, industrial-technological, and innovative development of the country, based on successful experience and global practice, as well as ensuring open dialogue between the Government of Uzbekistan and foreign investors.
As the state leader opened the session, he noted the efficient results of the fourth Tashkent Investment Forum held the day before and expressed gratitude to the council members for their contribution and support to the development of New Uzbekistan.
The productive outcomes of the Council's previous meetings were happily noted. In particular, a completely new format of cooperation with international financial organizations was introduced, an effective collaboration system was established, and mutually beneficial partnerships were expanded.
Notably, last year the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development invested a record amount - nearly 1 billion dollars in Uzbekistan. Our country has become the bank's largest partner in the region.
Furthermore, cooperation with private sector by international financial institutions strengthened significantly. The volume of joint projects with private companies and banks exceeded 1 billion dollars.
This meeting saw the companies participating initiating new projects in green energy, waste recycling, energy storage, production of green hydrogen, and other areas.
In particular, companies like "ACWA Power", "Masdar", "Linde", "Shanghai Renewable Energy", and "Total Energies" are contributing significantly to the development of a green economy by investing more than 8 billion dollars.
Prestigious global companies are also actively entering Uzbekistan's digital technologies sector. “DataVolt” is establishing the region's largest green data center, and “Veon” is realizing projects based on artificial intelligence to create a mobile super-app.
- I consider this a high expression of confidence by foreign investors in our reforms and our policy of openness, - said the President.
The International Finance Corporation, "Ernst&Young", "Dentons", "Knauf", and "TBC" companies, members of the Council, proposed a number of suggestions to further improve national legislation on the basis of international standards. Their new initiatives and ideas found expression in more than ten laws, decrees, and resolutions.
The state leader announced that the basic tax rates for businesses will remain unchanged until 2028.
Overall, as a result of the improvement in the investment climate, over the last 2 years, 5,500 new enterprises with foreign capital were established in our country, bringing their number to 16,000.
As noted, in preparation for today's meeting, more than 40 initiatives from foreign partners were reviewed. Specifically, investors proposed ensuring the stability of tax legislation, increasing the number of directly applicable laws, and expanding the participation of the private sector in infrastructure projects.
This year, nearly 4.5 billion dollars worth of public-private partnership projects started in road construction, transportation, energy, water supply, irrigation, and other areas. Normative legal documents are being developed for the transition to international standards for financial reporting, as well as ecological, social, and corporate governance.
Based on the received suggestions, measures will be taken to improve legislation on collateral, train professional staff for foreign companies, enhance corporate governance in local companies, and form additional working groups on tax administration.
A proposal was made to increase the independence of the Council Secretariat and reorganize it into a separate legal entity.
The council members who spoke praised the results of the wide-ranging reform program in New Uzbekistan highly. They expressed gratitude to the head of our state for his all-round support of investment activities and his firm commitment to continuing mutually beneficial cooperation.
