Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Center for Economic Research and Reform (CERR) has assessed the level of entrepreneurship development in the regions of Uzbekistan over the past 5 years.

On 20 August 2021, the head of state held an open dialogue with entrepreneurs for the first time. This day is defined in our country as the Day of Entrepreneurs, it was decided to hold such a meeting annually. The past dialogue between the President and entrepreneurs was the first experience of this kind in Uzbekistan and has already managed to show its effectiveness in terms of optimizing and adjusting the ongoing economic policy. As a result of the meeting, many important decisions were made on the development of business in the country.

Despite the difficulties experienced by small businesses during the pandemic, entrepreneurship is showing an impressive pace of development. So, if in 2016 the number of operating enterprises totaled 268 thousand, then in 2021 - 529 thousand (an increase of 2 times). If in 2016 the number of newly created enterprises was about 33 thousand, in 2021 there were more than 103 thousand (an increase of 3.1 times). As the President noted during a meeting with business representatives, the number of entrepreneurs has tripled over the past 5 years and currently stands at 1.5 million people, and about 5 million people work at private sector enterprises.

The share of small businesses in the country’s economy in 2021 was: industry (27%), construction (72%), GDP (55%), employment (74%), exports (22%).

In terms of the number of enterprises by types of economic activity in 2021, the picture is as follows: in trade - 157 thousand enterprises, in industry - 91 thousand, in agriculture - 47 thousand, in construction - 44 thousand, in accommodation and food - 33 thousand, in transportation and storage - 18 thousand, in information and communication - 11 thousand, in healthcare - 10 thousand and other - 118 thousand.

A year ago, based on the requests and proposals of entrepreneurs, the President at the meeting outlined 7 important areas for further work to solve problems that impede the full and effective operation of the business:

- availability of financial resources

- improving the tax system and reducing the tax burden on business

- availability of land use

- solving infrastructure development problems

- support for exporters

- transport and logistic

- simplification of business procedures

For the period 2016-2021. the gross domestic product (GDP) of Uzbekistan increased by 24%, and the volume of industrial production by 34%. Positive effects can be traced in economic indicators calculated monthly by the CERR, such as the Business Activity Index (BIA) and the Business Climate Index, implemented according to the methodology of the analogue of the Business Climate Index of the IFO Institute in Germany. So, in June 2022, the IDA in the regions and the capital increased by 6.2% compared to the previous month, and the average annual summary indicator in 2021 amounted to 60 points (which is 18 points more than in 2020), which assesses the state of the business -climate in the country as positive.

There is also a steady increase in tax revenues in the republic. Thus, in the period from 1 January to 27 June 2022, it increased by 15.3% compared to the same period last year. Revenues from customs payments for the analyzed period increased by 41.2% compared to the same period in 2021. The volume of exports of goods from the beginning of the current year to June 27 increased by 25.4% compared to the same period last year. The volume of transactions on the Uzbek Republican Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange for the analyzed period increased by 42.8%.