Information-analytical review “Economy of Uzbekistan” Ekonomika_engl | Page 6

MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS
The main factors contributing to the Uzbek economy growth in 2007 were:
1. Measures to conduct an active investment policy, including establishing conditions to raise for-
eign investments by granting tax benefits and preferences. As a result, investments grew by 22.9%
compared with 2006. Direct foreign investments (DFI) increased by 56.5% and their share of total
investments accounted for 17.8% (in 2006 – 14.1%). General active investment efforts contributed
to an increase in construction works (15.7%).
2. Implementation of a focused foreign trade policy has resulted in a growth in exports of 40.7%,
which helped strengthen the sustainability of the country's balance of payments. Growth in exports
occurred mainly in the export of finished goods, and this accounted for 38% of total exports.
Most important priorities of the program of social and economic
development of Uzbekistan for 2008
• ensuring macroeconomic stability, sustainable and balanced growth rates of the economy,
continuing with structural transformations, modernization and upgrading of leading sectors
of the economy by means of increased investment raising, primarily of direct foreign invest-
ments;
• intensification of reforms and further liberalization of the economy, fiscal policy, priority develop-
ment of market infrastructure;
• support and stimulation of development of small businesses and private entrepreneurship, ser-
vices sector and home-based jobs as overriding course to improve employment situation and
welfare of population;
• ensuring reclamation development and rise in cropping power of irrigated lands;
• taking steps to implement the State program “Year of Youth”.
From Minutes of meeting at the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, No.1 dated 8 February
2008.
3. Improvement of the business climate by means of a consistent reduction of the presence of the
state in the economy. This was achieved through:
• active realization of the Program for privatization of state-owned property as a result of which, the
ownership of 631 state-owned enterprises has changed. Of them more than 93 % were bought
by private owners. The share of production of the non-state-owned sector in GDP amounted to
79.3% vs. 77.2% in 2006.
• taking steps on the financial recovery of 268 insolvent enterprises.
• continued implementation of programs for the modernization and technical upgrading of the
most important sectors and large industrial enterprises. In particular: oil and gas enterprises,
non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgy, chemical, car, pharmaceutical, light, cotton-ginning, fat-
and-oil, and building materials industries.
• intensification of the structural reforms in agriculture related with steps to form efficient
management of production of agricultural output, in particular fruits and vegetables and grapes
as well as development of market infrastructure facilities in rural areas. Special attention has
been given to the development of livestock farming in personal auxiliary farms, dekhkan entities
and farms. This has helped to retain the sustainable growth rates of production of agricultural
output at the level of 6.1%;
• reduction in the number of inspections of economic entities (by 1791 inspections) by supervisory
and regulatory authorities;
• further liberalization of tax policy by way of reducing the single tax payment rate for small
enterprises and microfirms from 13% to 10%, streamlining, simplifying and cheapening of
procedures to establish new entrepreneurship subjects and wind-up the ones that change their
line of business. As result, the number of registered small entrepreneurship businesses has
risen by 9.9% compared with 2006 and accounted for 422.3 thousand units and the share of
small business in GDP accounted for 45.7% vs. 42.1% in 2006.
• further development of the market infrastructure that has a positive effect on the goods and
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Uzbekistan Economy