Measures to Simplify Business Activities Discussed

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was provided with information on the ongoing work to simplify business activities.

The development of entrepreneurship is a priority direction of the economic policy of Uzbekistan. The number of entrepreneurs is increasing due to created conditions thereupon. More than half of the national gross domestic product is produced by the small businesses. They also have a high share in exports.

There are more than 6,000 normative and 40,000 technical documents that streamline business activities today. Some outdated requirements make introducing the new products, technologies and services difficult.

By the Presidential Decree «On measures to simplify state regulation of entrepreneurial activities», the requirements that impede the activities of entrepreneurs in modern conditions have been revised, several simplifications have been introduced according to the State Program for the Implementation of the Development Strategy in the Year of Ensuring Human Interests and Makhalla (local neighborhood community area) Development.

In particular, the means of state regulation of entrepreneurship were clearly defined. These are state registration, licensing, authorization procedures, technical, tariff and non-tariff regulation, compulsory insurance, state control, protection of competition, and establishment of liability.

Based on the analysis, many procedures have been shortened. For instance, such processes as a written notification of creditors in case of a decrease in the authorized capital of an economic entity, suspension of electricity supply when consumed in excess, and placing employees hired by individual entrepreneurs on separate records with the tax authorities cause a lot of trouble. These mandatory requirements shall be removed from January 1, 2023.

In addition, the establishment of a Unified Register of Mandatory Requirements in Entrepreneurship was envisaged. The register will be formed in two stages and will be fully launched on July 1, 2025. Holding entrepreneurs liable for claims not included in this register will be prohibited.

During an open dialogue with the entrepreneurs on August 22 this year, the President gave the instructions on digitalization and the reduction of paper workflow in the sphere.

According to the previous procedure, the documents on salaries and other income of a legal entity, as well as taxes calculated on them, had to be kept paper-based for 75 years. However, since these data are also available in the database of the tax authorities, the new decree abolished the requirement to store them in paper form. Moreover, business entities shall be exempted from maintaining internal primary accounting documents in paper form if they are transmitted through information systems. As a result of these changes, the bureaucratic burden will be reduced and the work of 587 thousand enterprises will be facilitated.

In addition, the practice of submitting quarterly financial and 9 various statistical reports to the tax authorities is canceled from January 1, 2023.

Having heard the information from the responsible officials, the President instructed an effective execution of the Decree, as well as consistently continue the work to simplify business activities and create the most comfortable business environment in the country.