Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — On 20 August 2025, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held an open dialogue with entrepreneurs.

“Today we can proudly say: every job created in our country, every enterprise that develops, every service that makes life easier for our people, every product we export — all of this is the result of your bold work, initiative, and search for new solutions,” the President said at the beginning of his speech.

It was emphasized that today’s event is not just a forum, but a genuine platform for strengthening mutual trust between the state and the business community.

“Every sector, every region, every district develops and thrives only when entrepreneurial initiatives are taken, when attention is paid to them, and when trust is shown. That is why today we will listen to you. Together, we will discuss issues that are solved through your voice and arrive at concrete decisions,” the President stressed.

He noted that from the very beginning of the reforms, a common understanding with entrepreneurs was established, and work began on creating a New Uzbekistan — with a strong economy, competitive industry, a stable financial system, and sectors attractive to investors.

Over the past eight years, many sectors of the economy have been restructured. During this period, the country received $230 billion in investments, of which more than $120 billion were foreign investments.

“At first glance, it is easy to say this number, but in the past it could not even be imagined, let alone calculated. Yet we accomplished it,” the President remarked.

It was noted that while the global economy is going through an extremely challenging period due to various conflicts and contradictions, thanks to pragmatic and proactive policies, our economy grew by 7.2 percent in the first half of the year.

During this period, thousands of micro and small enterprises took advantage of the created conditions and quickly became competitive with large companies.

For example, 1,600 micro-enterprises increased their turnover to over 10 billion soums in just one year, immediately becoming medium-sized enterprises; 143 enterprises increased their turnover to more than 100 billion soums, becoming large companies; and 122 small enterprises joined the ranks of large businesses.

Last year, 203 enterprises had a turnover exceeding 1 trillion soums. In the first six months of this year, an additional 47 enterprises surpassed the 400–500 billion soum mark.

Thanks to the expansion of new mechanisms to bring businesses out of the “shadow,” employment in 139,000 enterprises increased to 811,000, and in 273,000 enterprises, the wage fund rose by 22 percent, or 4.6 trillion soums.

If last year the average salary in the private sector was 4 million soums per month, today it has approached 5 million soums.

As is traditional, this year 49 of the most advanced and devoted entrepreneurs — from small business owners to heads of large companies — were awarded state prizes, and 112 individuals received the “Active Entrepreneur” badge. Among them are scientists making significant contributions to business development through their research.

Over the past year, another 52 entrepreneurs, hardworking farmers, and proactive investors were awarded orders and medals.

“Particularly encouraging is the growing number of generous entrepreneurs who take on the construction of kindergartens and schools, medical facilities, help families in need, and support youth development,” the President concluded.

“Business leaders who create broad opportunities for sports, helping our young men and women achieve success at world and continental championships, Olympic and Paralympic Games, and other prestigious international competitions, are true dedicated patriots of our country,” the President emphasized.

Taking the moment, the Head of State expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the business community across the republic and congratulated them on their professional holiday.

Since the first open dialogue, around 1,000 entrepreneurial initiatives have been reflected in legislation. The results of these changes are felt not only by entrepreneurs but also by all citizens in their daily lives.

The President noted the symbolic significance of today’s meeting, held in New Tashkent, where large-scale construction projects have begun.

“This mega-project is a clear demonstration of how our reforms are reflected in everyday life and a vivid symbol of our bold steps toward renewal and development.

For you, entrepreneurs, New Tashkent will become a platform for new opportunities, new ideas, and new markets — a center for innovation and investment.

The modern infrastructure, fully based on ‘green’ technologies, will support your new ideas and initiatives.

Know this: the gates of New Tashkent are always open to all entrepreneurs who wish to do business,” the President stressed.

In preparation for today’s open dialogue, separate meetings were held with representatives of 26 sectors — nearly 7,000 participants in total. Through the call center, more than 13,000 requests and initiatives were received.

Given the importance of each day under today’s challenging conditions, issues were not postponed until the dialogue: solutions were found for problems in fruit and vegetable exports, as well as in the textile industry.

Last week, major innovations were announced to create more favorable conditions for encouraging businesses to emerge from the “shadow” economy.

Specifically, for individual entrepreneurs starting with small projects and gaining experience and skills, a special legal regime has been introduced until 2030 to transform them into stable enterprises employing 50–100 people.

Digital platforms will now be created for such entrepreneurs, consolidating all services — from registration to reporting. Entrepreneurs will be able to sign necessary documents remotely using biometrics and SMS notifications, without an electronic signature. Workers will have the option of receiving daily or hourly wages through electronic wallets.

Over 40 electronic payment organizations operate in the country, and the population actively uses convenient mobile applications.

Starting November 1, entrepreneurs will be provided with a universal QR code, enabling payments through all mobile payment applications.

All entrepreneurs with an annual turnover of up to 1 billion soums will, from January next year, transition to a unified tax regime of 1% of turnover.

For example, an individual entrepreneur with a current turnover of up to 100 million soums will now pay no more than 1 million soums instead of a fixed tax of 12 million soums. Similarly, an entrepreneur with a turnover between 100 million and 1 billion soums, who previously paid 30–40 million soums in taxes, will now pay 3–4 times less.

“In general, thanks to the created conditions, 1 trillion soums remain annually in the accounts of individual entrepreneurs — imagine, 1 trillion soums! This is an additional resource for small businesses and another opportunity for individual entrepreneurs to take their business to a new level,” the President emphasized.

Last week, meetings were held with representatives of more than 200 textile enterprises, and initiatives worth 7 trillion soums were announced to support the industry.

In the coming days, the “Reliable Exporter” program will be launched in the textile sector, and a system for pre-export financing will be established, with 200 million dollars allocated for this purpose.

This initiative will also be implemented in sectors with high export potential that are not fully utilizing their capabilities, such as electrical engineering, construction materials, food products, and pharmaceuticals. Entrepreneurs in these sectors will be provided with 500 million dollars in working capital.

Each industry will be assigned a quality mark, “Symbol of Uzbekistan,” for 10 guaranteed high-quality and competitive products, and a large-scale advertising campaign will begin to promote these products in international markets.

Textile entrepreneurs planning to relocate their enterprises from capital and regional centers to areas with abundant labor and available land will be provided with loans up to 10 billion soums. The President noted that he is ready to support similar initiatives in other sectors requiring a large workforce.

To ensure access to affordable raw materials, mixed fabrics and gaslamans will be exempt from customs duties until January 1, 2028. However, similar challenges exist in other industrial sectors.

World Bank experts also emphasize that tariff policy should stimulate production.

During preparations for the open dialogue, 130 appeals were received from entrepreneurs across all sectors regarding this issue. The Head of State instructed Deputy Prime Ministers responsible for the economy and investments to study the needs of each industry and regional enterprises and revise tariffs for other types of raw materials and components by November 1.

Now, compliance certificates for imports will be issued not for each batch, but for the volume specified in the contract.

Due to instability in certain regions, fluctuations in external markets, and logistics disruptions, export payments are delayed. In such conditions, entrepreneurs who are already facing delays in payments are forced to pay penalties for overdue receivables.

This issue was raised by numerous textile enterprises and fruit and vegetable exporters, requesting relief.

The Head of State outlined the solution: for enterprises without state participation, an annual moratorium will now be introduced on the accrual and collection of penalties for overdue debts in export activities.

For the development of industrial infrastructure in the regions, 1.7 trillion soums have been allocated this year. Next year, these expenditures will increase by 25% to reach 2.1 trillion soums.

Additionally, given the growing number of entrepreneurs in the capital, another 2 trillion soums will be allocated to improve the electrical networks.

As the economy continues to grow steadily, the demand for new infrastructure will keep increasing. Entrepreneurs who build external infrastructure at their own expense will now be able to deduct these costs from their tax base.

The Head of State also proposed completely new initiatives in other areas of entrepreneurship. All of them come into effect immediately.

In particular, the services sector will be actively developed — one of the most effective areas for creating short-term and quickly profitable jobs.

Since the beginning of the year, about 7 million foreign tourists have visited the country, and 15 million citizens have traveled domestically. In the next 3–4 years, the annual flow of foreign tourists is expected to reach at least 15 million people.

For this reason, a new program for tourism development is being launched. Over the next three years, a total of 5,000 hectares of land will be auctioned for the construction of hotels and tourist facilities. Entrepreneurs wishing to build hotels will not pay for the land purchase; instead, the state will become a shareholder in the project equal to the value of the land.

Entrepreneurs will be able to buy out this share at any time within 10 years. If an entrepreneur chooses to pay for the land upfront, a 20% discount will be provided.

For hotel construction in regional centers and 36 tourism-specialized areas, concessional loans of up to 30 billion soums for 7 years will be provided, with a two-year grace period; in other regions — up to 10 billion soums.

Many entrepreneurs buy state or private buildings and convert them into hotels. Now, the subsidies for new hotels will also apply to them.

Currently, hotel owners must pay a tourist fee of up to 62,000 soums per tourist per day. From now on, hotels outside Tashkent, regional centers, and major tourist areas will be exempt from this fee.

Under current regulations, family guesthouses cannot accommodate more than 10 tourists per day. This limit will now be doubled.

The President also proposed holding competitions among local hotels and family guesthouses. The prize fund for the competition will be 1 million dollars. Each year, hotels receiving the highest recognition from tourists and positive reviews on prestigious international platforms will be awarded.

Where infrastructure is well developed, entrepreneurs will naturally be drawn to these regions, and the service sector will actively expand.

Thus, with the development of infrastructure, the number of large tourist zones will increase. Based on a master plan, major resort areas of 300–500 hectares each, operating “12 months a year,” will be created in locations such as the Chortoksky Karabog quarter, Chimyon in Fergana, Omkhonha in Boysun, and the town of Nurbulak in Nurobod.

For the infrastructure of these projects, $150 million will be allocated.

To accelerate development, 16 districts have been allocated 1.1 trillion soums this year. This approach has also been recognized by the World Bank, which is providing $250 million.

Similar work will later be implemented in other districts, totaling an additional $500 million. This will create significant opportunities for entrepreneurs in industry, services, and construction, as well as conditions for creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Business representatives need additional space. However, rapidly changing rental conditions affect their future plans. Starting next year, state assets will be leased for five years. The lease will be terminated only if the tenant chooses to end it or fails to fulfill obligations.

It was noted that the Law “On Leasing,” adopted in 1991, primarily protected the interests of state authorities. Therefore, a new version of the law is being developed, which will equally protect the rights of landlords and tenants.

Thanks to the wide opening of opportunities for the private sector in education, over the past eight years, the number of private kindergartens has reached 31,000 and schools — 645.

Entrepreneurs will now be granted concessions in 80 districts where kindergarten coverage is below 70–80%. In these districts, it is now permitted to build kindergartens on available land under public-private partnerships.

During this period, land rent will not be charged for 30 years, and the state will subsidize entrepreneurs for half of the planned expenses per child in the kindergarten.

Entrepreneurs wishing to open kindergartens on other plots in these districts will receive concessional loans of up to 5 billion soums for 7 years at 18% annual interest. Land will be provided free of charge if the activity remains unchanged, the social tax is 1%, and teacher salaries will be paid for three years.

The extensive experience accumulated in private medicine, new technologies, and qualified personnel makes this sector attractive to entrepreneurs and stimulates higher service quality.

This is evidenced by the increase in private clinics from 3,500 to 8,500 over seven years.

“I am confident that together with you, we will turn Uzbekistan into a regional center for high-tech medicine. For this, I am ready to create all necessary conditions,” emphasized the President.

In particular, medical clusters will be established in border regions, including clinics, rehabilitation centers, hotels, and laboratories.

A concessional credit line of $200 million is being opened to equip them with modern equipment. Entrepreneurs creating medical clusters will be offered low-interest loans at 17% for 7 years, with a three-year grace period.

The President emphasized that financial services are the most important tool for supporting business.

Many entrepreneurs seek funds for promising projects, while there are enough willing investors. Under current regulations, limited liability companies are required to include an investor as a founder. However, not all agree to this. Consequently, the main burden of attracting resources has so far fallen on banks.

Now, an investment platform will be launched to simplify fundraising for projects. All enterprises will be able to list their projects on this platform, and potential investors can select any project and invest.

The main point is that the investor does not become a founder but participates in profits as a shareholder, with invested funds securely protected.

Thanks to this new system, entrepreneurs will be able to attract an additional up to $1 billion per year.

Currently, Uzbekistan has over 600 startups. Eight years ago, their number could be counted on one hand.

“Pay attention: in just seven months, startups attracted a record $264 million in foreign investments, four times more than what was attracted in 2024. That is why we are intensifying support for startups,” said the President.

One thousand ideas from young entrepreneurs will be commercialized, with 200 reaching international markets.

Advanced technologies will be implemented, and 100 local startups will become attractive businesses on the international stage. For this, $100 million is allocated.

Starting this year, the “Young Entrepreneurs” championship is being held. The 100 best ideas will be selected, and each startup will receive investment of up to 1 billion soums.

To turn these projects into brands, the costs of financial and marketing expert services will be fully covered.

“If we award the winners on August 20 — Entrepreneurs’ Day, I believe it will be a great motivation for young entrepreneurs,” emphasized the head of state.

With the broad opening of opportunities in IT, fintech, and startups, the number of marketplaces has grown from 24 to 163 in three years.

Entrepreneurs and artisans have learned to export their products via digital platforms. They now request VAT refunds for goods sold abroad on national and international marketplaces, just as with traditional exports. Relevant authorities have been tasked with approving the procedure and implementing it.

Overall, a five-year strategy will be adopted to increase the number of fintech startups and provide comprehensive support. To expand digital financial services, a new “open banking” ecosystem connecting banks, fintech companies, and startups will be introduced.

Thanks to these measures, investment in startup projects is expected to increase tenfold in the coming years compared to current levels.

This year, banks are attracting $6 billion in resources for entrepreneurial projects. Next year, banks plan to attract an additional $1 billion specifically to support small and medium-sized enterprises on favorable terms.

Additionally, the Entrepreneurship Development Company will provide concessional loans up to 10 billion soums through banks to increase the number of “champion entrepreneurs.”

Projects in manufacturing, service sectors, and the green economy will be refinanced by the company with commercial loans up to 500 million soums. As a result, interest rates for loans received annually by over 100,000 entrepreneurs will decrease to 6%.

Entrepreneurs who have repaid previous loans on time and provided guarantees to the company will be able to increase guarantees for new loans by 1.5 times.

Now, even large entrepreneurs can receive guarantees up to 10 billion soums.

Thanks to a simplified scoring system, about 100,000 entrepreneurs have been able to obtain new loans from banks and expand their operations.

Currently, their credit history is “average,” but with a little support, around 500,000 clients have the potential for rapid growth.

Going forward, the scoring system for loans will also consider tax and utility compliance, official turnovers, and export operations.

Starting next year, an alternative scoring model will be implemented to facilitate lending conditions.

When open dialogues with the business community began, the main requests concerned reducing tax rates.

Significant changes have occurred in the sector. Surveys of citizens and entrepreneurs confirm this: 79% of respondents noted that over the past five years, business support conditions have significantly improved.

However, entrepreneurs continue to raise pressing questions regarding tax administration.

Under current regulations, enterprises with an annual turnover exceeding 10 billion soums are required to prepay corporate income tax, which creates difficulties with working capital.

Now, this requirement will apply only to companies with an annual turnover exceeding 20 billion soums.

As a result, around 14,000 entrepreneurs will gain an additional 1 trillion soums of working capital at their disposal.

Thanks to the reduction of the value-added tax (VAT) rate to 12%, the number of entrepreneurs operating under this tax system is growing daily.

However, many still hesitate:
"If I switch to VAT, calculations will become more complicated, I will need to hire an accountant, and expenses will increase."

To address this, enterprises transitioning from turnover tax to VAT will be exempt from paying corporate income tax for one year; even if there are errors in reporting, no penalties will be applied. Moreover, up to 5 million soums of accountant salaries for the first six months can be deducted from the tax paid.

Currently, tax inspections have revealed errors and deficiencies totaling 16 trillion soums among more than 20,000 entrepreneurs, negatively affecting their ratings in the business system.

"Therefore, today we are announcing a kind of ‘amnesty’: no sanctions will be applied based on these inspections. Instead, by November 1, entrepreneurs can voluntarily correct all errors and deficiencies. In other words, from November 1, business representatives will start their entrepreneurial rating with a ‘clean slate’," noted the President.

Two years ago, a system was introduced for turnover tax payers in which the tax inspector manages the accounting. The scope of such services will be expanded.

Starting next year, entrepreneurs will be exempt from the obligation to prepare reports on land, property, social, and income taxes. These reports will be completed free of charge by the tax authority, while entrepreneurs will have 5 days to make corrections if needed.

The President emphasized that where the rule of law prevails, business thrives, and an attractive investment environment is created.

A class of business people has formed in the country. They are no longer just entrepreneurs but active investors contributing significantly to the development of economic sectors and regions.

In addition to traditional investments, modern instruments such as venture funds, bonds, crowdfunding, and startups are actively developing.

"Indeed, we have hundreds of documents regulating investment relations, protecting investor rights, and creating favorable conditions. It is time to unify all this into a single law — to adopt an Investment Code. This document will systematize all rules, guarantees, and procedures in the investment sphere and will promote further investment," said the President.

The Entrepreneurship Council is actively preparing measures to improve the business environment. If Parliament collaborates closely with the Council during the development of the new code, the results will be excellent.

Currently, both small and large businesses pay the same penalties for late reporting, with a separate fine for each type of report.

Starting November 1, the Tax Committee has been instructed to create a system with a single penalty regardless of the number of unsubmitted or late reports.

For small businesses, fines will be reduced by three times.

"At the core of all our reforms lies respect for the individual and the protection of our entrepreneurs’ interests."

"For this reason, we are implementing a firm policy to ensure the independence of the judiciary. Today’s entrepreneur is not the same as the entrepreneur of yesterday. Their increasing legal literacy can be seen even in the growing number of court filings," — noted the Head of State.

From now on, entrepreneurs will be able to appeal to economic and administrative courts extraterritorially.

Attention has been drawn to cases of delays in the enforcement of court decisions regarding the recovery of material damages.

In reality, every day of delay in debt collection works against the entrepreneur.

Therefore, based on international experience, a system called “astrent” will be introduced. Under this system, compensation for material damages for each day of delay will be collected from the debtor as a penalty, and this will be clearly stipulated in the court decision.

In recent years, the requirement to submit 120 types of documents has been canceled, and an equal number of licenses have been transferred to a digital format. Just last year, the abolition of 16 types of licenses and permits allowed entrepreneurs to save 350 billion soums.

By 2026, another 10 types of licenses and permits are planned to be abolished.

In particular, auditing organizations, tourism specialists, tourist information centers, and entrepreneurs conducting technical vehicle inspections will be transferred to a notification-based system.

Currently, in cases of violation in the issuance of licenses, permits, or notifications, fines are imposed on both the enterprise and its head.

Now, in such cases, only the enterprise will pay the fine, while the responsibility of the official will be determined independently by the governing body.

The President also announced another important update: starting 2026, under the “Business in 15 Minutes” principle, entrepreneurs will be able to fully launch their activities immediately.

During the registration process, an entrepreneur will simultaneously:

receive an electronic digital signature;

have a bank account opened;

optionally, sign a lease agreement;

register a cash register with the tax authorities;

have a notification sent to the relevant state bodies in the given area.

As a result, the duration of these procedures will decrease from the current one week to 15 minutes.

For 32 categories of goods under sanitary, veterinary, and quarantine control — such as seedlings, mineral fertilizers, shoes, and livestock feed — the certificate of conformity will be abolished.

The list of goods subject to mandatory certification has been reduced to 459 items, with plans to cut it by another 288 items.

Overall, the national infrastructure responsible for product safety, quality, and assessment will be fundamentally reformed and aligned with international standards.

Primarily, instead of certification, declaration of conformity will be widely introduced.

"The technical regulation system is being completely transformed. We are creating all the conditions for the entry of the most reputable internationally recognized laboratories. Now we are moving to a market-based quality control system. From now on, the object of control will be the product itself, not the entrepreneur," — emphasized the President.

Based on the “From Field to Table” principle, the control and laboratory testing functions for food safety conducted by sanitary, veterinary, and quarantine authorities will be consolidated into a single system and fully digitized.

Entrepreneurs will now be able to receive all documents in one place under the “single window” principle, without spending time navigating different agencies.

This will allow the domestic market to be filled with high-quality products and expand opportunities for local enterprises to enter global markets.

The President emphasized that entrepreneurs have many questions regarding participation in government procurement and trading on exchanges, and in the near future, thorough preparations will be carried out to address all arising issues.

A new mechanism will be introduced to ensure equal protection of entrepreneurs’ rights when entering contracts with government bodies and natural monopoly entities.

All draft standard contracts will be required to undergo expert review by the Business Ombudsman, Ministry of Justice, and Competition Committee.

"The more business associations exist, the louder the voice of entrepreneurs is heard.
Therefore, if 10 of the most active and advanced business owners unite, gather young entrepreneurs around them, pass on business secrets, and implement new knowledge and technologies, the business community itself will be able to solve many entrepreneurial problems.
Following this path, I am always ready to support associations that help entrepreneurs," — noted the Head of State.

To finance their programs, projects, and activities aimed at achieving concrete results, 10 million dollars will be allocated annually.

At the same time, the President personally interacts with entrepreneurs, listening to their additional suggestions and opinions.

Following this open dialogue, the President addressed entrepreneurs again:

*"Every meeting and every conversation with you brings me special joy and, when necessary, inspires new efforts and active actions.
Because in you, I see the practical results and achievements of our actions to build the New Uzbekistan.

Today we can boldly say: small and medium-sized businesses in our country have become the ‘catalyst of reforms’. And it is you, entrepreneurs, who made this happen. This is something to be proud of.

Do not fear anything, do not tire of striving and seeking, move only forward to new high goals!

The force that ensures the development and future of the New Uzbekistan is entrepreneurs.
The force that makes our country prosperous is entrepreneurs.
The force that improves the lives of people and families is entrepreneurs."

#Shavkat Mirziyoyev