On December 14, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a videoconference, at which the effectiveness of the work on the development of the service sector and priority tasks for the future were considered.

On May 11 this year, the Head of the state signed a resolution “On measures to accelerate the development of the service sector”. The document provides for the transformation of this sector into one of the drivers of the economy and a twofold increase in the volume of services by 2023.

On September 30, another important document was adopted – the Decree of the President “On additional measures to support the service sector”, which extended the benefits for public catering, trade, tourism and transport introduced due to the pandemic. The problems raised during the meetings with entrepreneurs were also resolved.

This year, 29 thousand projects worth 18 trillion UZS have been implemented, the growth in the service sector amounted to 20 percent. However, the growth rates in 5 districts and cities turned out to be extremely low. In general, the volume of local services remains low.

In this regard, issues of large-scale development of the service sector, the use of unused opportunities were discussed at the meeting.

The Head of the state emphasized the need for a special approach to each region and gave specific examples of this. Based on the population size, geographical location and economic potential of districts and cities, 3 areas of development of the sphere have been identified.

The first direction is the development of services in 158 districts. In particular, priority will be given to tourism in 45 districts with tourist attractions and 40 mountainous areas.

For example, the villages of Navruz, Miraki, Oqdaryo and Gissar in Shakhrisabz district are annually visited by about 500 thousand tourists. If 65 kilometers of roads are repaired, access to the Internet and mobile communications is improved, the volume of services here can be increased by 3-4 times. As a result, guest houses, retail and catering outlets will open, and additional jobs will be created.

The Head of the state emphasized the need for providing such areas with the necessary infrastructure and put up land plots for auction for the implementation of turnkey projects.

Instructions were given on the introduction of a special tax regime for the tourism industry, the allocation of preferential loans for the opening of guest houses.

It was noted that in 27 districts with developed industry priority will be given to services of trade, catering, logistics, hotels and entertainment establishments.

In districts with high agricultural incomes, emphasis will be placed on the development of modern agricultural services.

So, in the Qamashi district, the Center for agricultural services and private veterinary clinics will be created. In the district center, it is planned to build an eco-market with a cold storage warehouse for 200 tons and create a thousand jobs.

Hokims of districts were instructed to develop similar programs on the example of the Qamashi district.

As is known, Yangi O’zbekiston neighborhoods for 10 thousand families with schools, kindergartens and medical institutions will be built next year in 21 districts. It was emphasized that this is an excellent opportunity for the development of service and trade.

Trade and logistics services will be specialized in 25 border districts and 100 districts, through which international highways and railways pass. Responsible persons were instructed to develop a roadside service development program, radically improve the infrastructure of checkpoints with neighboring countries and the roads leading to them.

In general, in 158 districts there are conditions for the creation of 300 thousand jobs in the service sector.

The second area is the development of modern market services in 29 medium and large cities, as well as 6 districts with a population of more than 300 thousand people.

In this regard, instructions were given for the efficient use of non-residential premises in multi-storey buildings, for auctioning land plots for lightweight structures.

It is no secret that there are not enough places in many city schools and preschool institutions. In this regard, tasks have been set to expand the coverage of private educational services, to allocate land for the construction of schools and kindergartens.

It was noted that, based on the experience of Tashkent region, in each region, it is necessary to open IT academies to train young people in modern services.

In general, in 35 cities and districts, it is planned to create 200 thousand jobs in the service sector.

In the third area, a special program for the development of highly profitable services will be adopted in Tashkent, Samarkand and Namangan.

For example, in Sergeli district of the capital, there is an opportunity to create 5,000 jobs in the sphere of trade and services through the creation of infrastructure along the overground metro line. We can also create art streets with shops for paintings, sculptures, handicrafts.

Responsible persons were instructed to improve the work of museums, expand their expositions and open new routes for tourists.

The increase in retail trade in such large cities as Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara will be facilitated by the introduction of the tax-free system, a further increase in retail sales due to the opening of duty-free stores in the city. An instruction was given to work out the issue of organizing a system for refunding VAT for purchases to foreign tourists in all tourist cities.

In general, it is planned to create 750 thousand jobs in the service sector in Tashkent, Namangan and Samarkand.

Next year, $500 million will be allocated for the implementation of projects in this sector.

Information from responsible persons was heard on the issues discussed at the meeting.

UzA