Page 48 - bne_December 2017_20171204

48 I Eurasia bne December 2017
Uzbekistan makes top 10 in World Bank’s Doing Business global improvers
bne IntelliNews
Uzbekistan was among the
top 10 global improvers in
the World Bank's Ease of
Doing Business report that assesses the environment for doing business across 190 economies worldwide. Climbing 13 positions to rank 74th, Uzbekistan also performed better than some other Central Asian countries, the report released on October 30 showed.
The report noted a total of five business reforms implemented in Uzbekistan,
The country also streamlined the process for obtaining approvals of land plot allocations from various agen- cies. In addition, it passed legislation that increased corporate transparency requirements, giving more agenda-set- ting power to shareholders and disclos- ing “board member activities in other companies, executive compensation and audit reports”.
Uzbekistan was also among the countries that introduced or enhanced systems for filing and paying taxes
Mongolia came 62nd, improving slightly by two places from last year; Kyrgyzstan slightly worsened to 77th against last year’s 75th; while Tajikistan ranked 123rd, improving from 128th.
One of the world’s most isolated countries, Turkmenistan, was not included in the report.
Mongolia’s improvement was due to
the introduction of the Law on Movable and Intangible Property Pledges, which “regulates the assignment of receivables, financial leases and retention-of-title sales, requiring their registration with the collateral registry”.
Tajikistan’s five-rank rise was driven by it “raising the revenue threshold for mandatory value-added tax registration”, which made starting
a business easier in the country. The small Central Asian nation also made property registration easier and less costly by eliminating the need to register sale-purchase agreements
at municipal offices.
Uzbekistan’s currency liberalisation brought in by Mirziyoyev should draw in more foreign investors as it makes it
“Mirziyoyev’s most promising reforms in 2017 was the removal of strict currency controls”
most on the back of efforts by reformist President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to open up the country for investors. Mirziyoyev came to power in September, following the death of autocrat Islam Karimov, who prioritised trade protectionism over foreign investments. Mirziyoyev’s most promising reform in 2017 was
the removal of strict currency controls, which long fed a black market for the Uzbek som and double digit inflation.
Uzbekistan’s reforms include the streamlining of the process for obtaining an electricity connection “by introducing a 'turnkey' service at the utility that fulfils all connection-related services, including the design and construction completion of the external connection”.
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online. Moreover, it rolled out a new platform for business registration.
Uzbekistan’s ranking in this year’s report surpassed those of its neighbours, with the exception of Kazakhstan, which ranked 36th in the report, falling one position below last year’s 35th rank. Among the other ranked Central Asian countries,
“The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has for the first time since 2007 approved financing for projects in Uzbekistan”