Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held an open dialogue with entrepreneurs on 22 August.

At the beginning, the head of our state briefly dwelled on the work done since last year’s meeting. In particular, as a result of improving the business environment over the past year, entrepreneurs built more than 55,000 business buildings. The number of business entities with revenues of over US$1 million increased by 5,000 to 26,000. Another thousand entities brought their trade turnover from US$1 million to US$10 million, and the revenue of 220 enterprises reached US$100 million. The number of exporting enterprises amounted to 7.5 thousand, the total volume of exports increased by 30 percent.

Before the current dialogue, a call center was organized, which received more than 12 thousand requests from entrepreneurs. In addition to personal or local problems, they also raised systemic issues. It was noted that analytical work would be carried out in order to find the most optimal solutions.

The President outlined five main areas and put forward many initiatives for each of them.

In the first direction, the introduction of separate approaches to supporting enterprises is determined by dividing them into categories.

In particular, enterprises with an annual turnover of up to 1 billion soums will be classified as micro-businesses, up to 10 billion soums - as small businesses, up to 100 billion soums - as medium-sized businesses.

Based on this, from 1 January 2023, a single tax rate of 4 percent will be introduced for micro businesses instead of the current turnover tax rates of 4 percent to 25 percent.

Enterprises with an annual turnover of more than 1 billion soums and switching to the general tax payment procedure will pay 2 times less income tax for one year. These opportunities will facilitate the activities of 370,000 entrepreneurs.

The need to increase the number of medium-sized enterprises with high growth potential was emphasized; a number of tax incentives and compensations will be established for them.

In last year’s open dialogue, the head of our state promised to continue the course towards reducing the tax burden on businesses. Despite the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic, a reduction in the value added tax rate to 12 percent from 1 January 2023 has been announced.

Another relief for entrepreneurs is that from 1 July of this year, the application of increased tax rates due to non-use of an empty building or land plot has been canceled. The President announced the write-off of the debt of entrepreneurs in the amount of 2 trillion soums, formed as a result of paying taxes at an increased rate.

The second direction is the creation of a favorable system of financing. To this end, 20 trillion soums will be allocated for small business projects. In addition, commercial banks will attract funds from international financial organizations for these purposes.

The Entrepreneurship Fund’s ability to provide guarantees will be doubled. As a result, at least 15,000 entrepreneurs will be able to resolve the issue of collateral for loans.

Of course, credit is only one aspect of the problem. Business needs infrastructure and a guaranteed market. In this regard, for example, opportunities in the Tashkent region and remote areas are completely different.

Therefore, in the third direction, the issue of introducing special approaches for business based on the conditions of districts and cities was considered. Starting next year, all districts and cities will be divided into 5 categories according to their conditions. They will define special regimes for taxation, subsidies, compensation for interest on loans, providing guarantees, and connecting to infrastructure.

The established amount of payment for land privatization, which is 20 times the amount of land tax, will be reduced 10 times in the city of Tashkent and regional centers, 5 times - in other regions.

The fourth direction concerns the protection of the property of entrepreneurs. It is emphasized that only the court can cancel decisions on the allocation of land and property, as well as consider the issue of seizure of property during the investigation.

The opportunity for entrepreneurs to apply to the courts will also be expanded. In particular, when applying to administrative courts, the state duty rate will be reduced by 2 times. The term for entrepreneurs to appeal the decision of the tax authorities in court will be extended from the current 1 month to 3 years.

In the fifth direction, issues of control over the activities of entrepreneurs and bringing them to justice were discussed.

First of all, a moratorium will be announced for a period of 3 years on the introduction of new types of liability and penalties against entrepreneurs. It was noted that from next year the duplicating control functions of 26 departments would be cancelled.

The head of our state drew attention to the receipt of many appeals about the large number and severity of fines related to tax audits.

For example, small businesses paying an average of 1 million soums of tax per month are subject to a financial penalty of 5 million to 10 million sums for not issuing a check alone. That is, the punishment is the same for both small entrepreneurs and large enterprises.

The President emphasized that all types of inspections should be agreed with the Business Ombudsman, and the amount of fines should not exceed the amount of tax paid by the entrepreneur.

In general, the problem that has been troubling entrepreneurs working in the field of trade for almost 30 years will now be eliminated - that is, criminal liability for violating the rules of trade will be completely abolished.

The Minister of Justice and the Business Ombudsman were instructed to develop a bill to reduce the time for inspections, establish a minimum threshold for financial errors and shortcomings, having studied the proposals of entrepreneurs.

The issue of moral support for entrepreneurs was not left without attention. The head of our state proposed to establish the honorary title "Honored Entrepreneur of Uzbekistan" to recognize the work of business representatives who have created many jobs, introduced innovations in their field, and gained respect among the people.

It also indicated the need to improve the activities of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Its tasks and powers will be expanded. In particular, it will be granted the right to submit issues to the government that are obligatory for consideration, to file suits with the Supreme Court in the interests of entrepreneurs. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be completely withdrawn from the subordination of the government and will become an independent defender of the interests of entrepreneurs.

To implement all the proposals made during the open dialogue, it was instructed to form a Public Council for Entrepreneurship Support under the President.

At the end of his speech, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev once again congratulated the businessmen of our country on the Day of Entrepreneurs and wished them success in their activities.

- We are entering a very important and decisive stage on the path of building a New Uzbekistan. Your selfless work, innovative thinking and approach are more important today than ever, and I believe that in this regard you will set an example for representatives of all spheres, the head of state said.