President Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized the importance of expanding practical partnership within the framework of the Foreign Investors Council

On June 11, the third plenary session of the Council of Foreign Investors under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan was held at the International Congress Center.

In The event, chaired by the head of our state, was attended by the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Odile Renaud-Basso, heads of such leading companies and banks 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, JBIС, as well as representatives of international organizations and financial institutions - the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and the International Islamic Trade and Finance Corporation.

The main tasks of the council are to provide advisory assistance and open dialogue between the Government of Uzbekistan and foreign investors in the most important areas of investment, industrial, technological and innovative development of the country, based on successful experience and world practice.

Opening the current session, the leader of our state noted the fruitful results of the fourth Tashkent Investment Forum that took place the day before, and also thanked the council members for their contribution and support for the development of New Uzbekistan.

The effectiveness of previous meetings of the council was noted with satisfaction. In particular, a transition to a completely new format of work with international financial organizations has been ensured, a system of effective cooperation has been introduced, and sectors of mutually beneficial partnership have expanded.

So, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development invested a record amount in Uzbekistan last year - about $1 billion. Our country has become the bank's largest partner in the region.

Collaboration between international financial organizations and the private sector has also increased significantly. In particular, the annual volume of joint projects with private companies and banks exceeded $1 billion.

Companies participating in the current council have launched new projects in areas such as green energy, waste recycling, electricity storage, green hydrogen production and others.

In particular, ACWA Power, Masdar, Linde, Shanghai Renewable Energy and Total Energies, having invested more than $8 billion, are making a great contribution to the development of the green economy.

Reputable world-famous companies are also actively entering the digital technology sector of Uzbekistan. The DataVolt company is implementing projects to create the largest “green” data center in the region, and Veon is implementing projects to create a mobile super application based on artificial intelligence.

“I consider this a clear manifestation of the high confidence of foreign investors in our reforms and openness policy,” the President emphasized.

International Finance Corporation, Ernst & Young companies, Dentons, Knauf and TBC, members of the council, made a number of proposals to further improve national legislation based on international standards. Their new initiatives and ideas are reflected in more than 10 laws, decrees and resolutions.

The head of state announced that basic tax rates for businesses will not change until 2028.

In general, as a result of improving the investment climate, over the past 2 years, 5.5 thousand new enterprises with the participation of foreign capital have been created in Uzbekistan, their total number reached 16 thousand.

It was noted that in preparation for today's meeting, more than 40 initiatives of foreign partners were selected. In particular, investors have made proposals to ensure the sustainability of tax legislation, increase the number of directly applicable laws, and expand the participation of the private sector in infrastructure projects.

This year, public-private partnership projects worth almost $4.5 billion were launched in the areas of road construction, transport, energy, water supply, irrigation and others. Regulatory documents are being developed for the transition to international standards of financial reporting, as well as environmental, social and corporate governance.

Based on the proposals received, additional working groups will be created to improve the legislation on collateral, train professional personnel for foreign companies, improve corporate governance in local companies, tax administration.

It is proposed to increase the independence of the Secretariat of the Council and reorganize it into a separate legal entity.

The council members who spoke highly appreciated the results of the large-scale reform program in New Uzbekistan. Gratitude was expressed to the head of our state for his full support of investment activities and his firm intention to continue mutually beneficial cooperation.

The government has been instructed to review all initiatives in detail and take control of their practical implementation. An instruction was also given to adopt a separate “road map” for each project.

Official website of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan