The number of state-owned enterprises in Uzbekistan exceeds two and a half thousand.

By 2025, it is planned to reduce this figure by 75 percent.

This has been announced during the International Forum “Transformation and privatization of state-owned enterprises: A new stage of economic reforms”, in Tashkent.

The forum was organized by the State Assets Management Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan together with the World Bank.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Minister of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Jamshid Kuchkarov and World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde addressed the event.

The forum was attended by the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan Timur Ishmetov, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Adham Ikramov, other officials, representatives of international financial institutions, investment and consulting companies, commercial banks, domestic and international business community.

Almost every state agency and local authorities in Uzbekistan are the founders of enterprises. 1210 out of the 2541 state-owned enterprises operating today are created in the form of a unitary enterprise.

As domestic and international practice shows, the high level of state participation in the economy hinders the development of a healthy competitive environment. The level of confidence of domestic and foreign investors largely depends on the transparency of the privatization process. At the same time, measures to transform state-owned enterprises are necessary to increase their attractiveness. This was noted during the forum by the Director of State Assets Management Agency Akmalkhon Ortikov.

“The presence of the state in Uzbekistan’s economy remains high and amounts to about 55 percent. For comparison: this figure in South Korea is 22 percent, in Germany 18 percent, in the United States 11 percent, in Japan 5 percent”, A. Ortikov noted.

The Strategy for management and reform of enterprises with state participation for 2021-2025 was developed. It was approved by the government on March 29 this year. According to the document, by the end of the first half of 2021 alone, more than 550 state assets are expected to be sold, including such large complexes as the Poytakht Business Center, Malika Shopping Center, Ichan Kala Hotel, and an administrative building in the center of Tashkent.

UzA