Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A video conference was held on 25 April from a studio in Urgench under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov to discuss measures to counter the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and ensure macroeconomic stability of the country by providing effective support to domestic entrepreneurs and exporters in the face of restrictive factors caused by the current global epidemiologic situation.

The meeting was attended by the leadership of the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport, the State Tax Committee, the State Customs Committee, branch departments, industrial associations, specialized government agencies, commercial banks, heads local authorities of the regions, the Republic of Karakalpakstan and the city of Tashkent, regional leaders of the internal affairs bodies and prosecutors, as well as the heads of diplomatic missions of the Republic of Uzbekistan abroad.

On the agenda were mechanisms of interagency cooperation aimed at targeted work with exporters and entrepreneurs with the aim of a comprehensive analysis of their business activities, identifying existing problems caused by the consequences of the spread of coronavirus, and developing operational solutions with fixing responsible executors and fixing specific deadlines.

In this regard, a special role was assigned to the activities of the Republican Commission for the development of export potential of regions and industries, the working groups of which regularly travel to the regions of the Republic for direct contact with entrepreneurs and exporters and quickly resolve existing issues. The key to the effectiveness of the Commission is that the identified problems are resolved directly on the ground through close coordination of the actions of the responsible heads of government agencies and commercial banks.

In addition, it was noted that the study of the economic potential of the regions during trips allows us to identify ineffectively used or unused reserves for the development of industry and agriculture, increasing export potential and creating new jobs. In this regard, the Center for Development of Investment Projects under the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade is working on the formation of promising project proposals within the specified time period, with the subsequent involvement of initiators and investors, as well as the selection of tools and sources of financing for their implementation.

During the video conference, the need to intensify the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic missions of the Republic of Uzbekistan abroad was emphasized as an effective tool for interaction with international organizations, foreign business circles, investors and business partners of domestic business entities.

The heads of diplomatic missions were instructed, together with the leaders of local authorities, to ensure active participation in providing targeted support to entrepreneurs and exporters by deeply studying the market conditions abroad to search for new potential customers for domestic products, as well as establishing mechanisms for cooperation with relevant departments in partner countries with the aim of solutions to problems faced by enterprises selling products abroad.

The important stimulating role of commercial banks in the practical support of entrepreneurs was noted, since one of the most common problems that entrepreneurs face in their current activities is the urgent need for additional financing and providing them with working capital to ensure stable production activities.

Along with this, the heads of commercial banks were instructed to establish systematic work on the development and implementation of investment projects in the regions on the principle of a “factory of projects”, which implies supporting each project from its initiation to commissioning.

As a result of the videoconference, a number of decisions were adopted aimed at strengthening interagency cooperation in working with domestic entrepreneurs and exporters, as well as specific instructions were given to address certain issues discussed during the discussion by the responsible heads of ministries, departments, local authorities, commercial banks and diplomatic representative offices abroad.