Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 7 April 2020, an extraordinary meeting of the Turkic Chamber of Commerce and Industry was held with the participation of the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of the Turkic Speaking States (CCTS) B. Amreeev, dedicated to confronting the challenges facing business during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The Turkic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) was established in July 2019 on the basis of the Business Council of the Turkic-speaking countries, the members of the TCCI are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan, Hungary is an observer country.

The conference was also attended by:

- Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkey, President of TOBB - Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu,

- Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Uzbekistan Adham Ikramov,

- Chairman of the Confederation of Employers of Azerbaijan Mamed Musaev,

- Chairman of the Board of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan “Atameken” Ablai Myrzakhmetov,

- Deputy Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Kyrgyzstan, Rima Apasova,

- Deputy Chairman of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Andrash Rev

During the video conference, the parties discussed issues related to measures taken in the member countries of the pandemic counteraction organization, exchanged views on additional measures necessary to mitigate the effects of coronavirus on the small and private business sector.

In particular, Secretary General B. Amreev noted the need to draw up a joint Action Plan with proposals from each country for further consideration in the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States.

Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu noted that coronavirus infection put all the world’s population at risk. It can be defeated only by the joint efforts of all countries.

In continuation, the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry proposed to consider the possibility of revising the transport tariffs of the organization’s member countries, in particular, reducing tariffs for transportation in the Caspian region.

In turn, the Uzbek side provided detailed information on measures taken in the republic to support business during the pandemic and post-pandemic period, in particular benefits, preferences and other important measures to mitigate the negative impact of coronavirus on the economy and living standards of the population, as determined by Decrees of the President of the Republic Uzbekistan from 19 March and 3 April 2020

Chairman of CCI of Uzbekistan proposed to

- create a unified IT platform in order to provide information support to the business, as well as to collect the appeals of entrepreneurs who encountered obstacles in the territories of the countries of the participants and their quickest solutions;

- develop a mechanism for establishing direct communication with enterprises, and focus on the problems of not only large businesses, but also small and medium-sized businesses.

Also, their proposals were voiced by the chairmen of the national units from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Hungary, where, as a result of the moderator - the chairman of the CCI and the secretary general of the CCTS, a decision was made to summarize the parties’ proposals and prepare the Roadmap project to prevent the consequences of the COVID-19 coronavirus and direct it in the form of organization recommendations to member countries.