Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Within preparation for the first meeting of the Foreign Investors Council under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, an intermediate session of the Council was organized on 16 April at the International Hotel Tashkent with the participation of representatives of the largest foreign manufacturing and consulting companies and international organizations. It was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The Foreign Investors Council is organized on the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in order to further develop a favorable, transparent, non-discriminatory and constructive business environment conducive to attracting, primarily, foreign investments, forming an active dialogue platform between government bodies of the republic, representatives of international financial institutions and investment structures, as well as creating a positive image of the republic through the largest major partner companies successfully operating in Uzbekistan.

Opening the session, Alkis Drakinos, Head of the EBRD Office in Uzbekistan, said that these days a story is being created that will expand the investment opportunities of Uzbekistan and create a new plane of communication between the state and investors.

In turn, the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Sardor Umurzakov, welcoming the participants of the meeting, thanked the representatives of foreign companies for choosing Uzbekistan as a platform for the implementation of investment projects, noting that in 2018, the number of enterprises with foreign capital increased 3 times compared with the previous year. Speaking about the role of the Council of Foreign Investors, he stressed that the basis for attracting foreign direct investment is not only capital, but also the struggle to attract innovation, markets, technologies, brands, effective corporate governance methods and the achievement of these goals should be subject to the entire investment policy country.

The minister outlined the improvement of the legislative base of Uzbekistan, the creation of a comfortable tax administration regime and the improvement of the relationship between government agencies and investors as the main tasks to improve the business climate in the republic.

During the session, investors had the opportunity to designate their own positions on the issues of coordinating investment activities, protecting foreign capital and the role of the state in regulating these processes, while noting the expediency of optimizing individual procedures for monitoring project implementation.

All voiced proposals will be taken into account when forming the agenda of the first meeting of the Foreign Investors Council.