State support is needed to attract investment into education sector

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan has published a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On additional measures to strengthen the material and technical base of Akfa University” for discussion.

This document provoked heated discussions among the public. The Antimonopoly Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan also published its opinion on this document.

According to the conclusion of the Antimonopoly Committee, the provision of preferences and a land plot for the construction of a campus of the university of Akfa Universiteti LLC will give it an advantage over other private educational institutions operating in the education market and will have a negative impact on the competitive environment.

Akfa University was established in accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the formation of Akfa University" from 15 February 2019 (PKM No. 130). The main goal of the university is to train highly qualified specialists in the field of fundamental, medical, exact and humanitarian sciences.

In accordance with the aforementioned government resolution, the University was provided with buildings and structures of the Shaykhantakhur Medical College in Tashkent on the right of free use.

After analysis and calculations, the University’s management, together with the founders, came to the conclusion that the college building provided was not able to accommodate classrooms and laboratories. At the same time, there is usually a clinic at medical universities, where students practice and gain practical knowledge.

In this regard, the college building was returned to the state. The buildings and structures of the college have already been transferred to the balance of another government organization.

The draft resolution proposes to provide the University with a land plot of about 29 hectares in the Tashkent region. It is planned to build a university campus and a modern clinic for 600 beds.

It should be noted that when creating international universities in the country, the Government provided land plots, buildings or structures for the creation of university campuses free of charge. The provision of land to Akfa University is in line with this practice.

At the same time, the founder of the university, Akfa Medline LLC, plans to allocate at least US$58 million to create a university campus and clinic. It is expected that the volume of investments will be higher if we consider that on a regular basis will be spent on updating the equipment of the university clinic.

The situation is the same with benefits. Firstly, the benefits provided to the University in accordance with the PKM No. 130 in the draft resolution duplicate the benefits provided earlier by the resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PP-2863 "On measures for the further development of the private health sector" from 1 April 2017 and other decisions of the management and the government of the country to provide tax and customs benefits to other universities located on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Given that other international universities have previously received similar benefits, the provision of tax and customs benefits to Akfa University does not violate competition law.

Also, in accordance with the initiative of the founder of the university, Akfa Medline LLC, in the 2019-2020 academic year, 100 students were admitted to grant places. Within the framework of this social initiative, Akfa Medline LLC and Akfa University invest US$58,000 per year in personnel training (over 6 years – US$348,000).

In the 2020-2021 academic year, following the results of the entrance exams, two students will receive grants for the entire amount of the contract. Another 40 students will receive discounts from 10 to 75% of the contract amount. The volume of these investments will also amount to US$58,000 per year and US$348,000 for the entire period of study of this group of students. That is, 10 grant places will be distributed among 42 students based on the results of a survey among current university students.

Akfa University does not plan to profit from the benefits provided by the Government. These benefits, on the one hand, will reduce the cost of purchasing equipment and materials, as well as attracting foreign specialists, on the other hand, to reinvest the released funds for the development of education and training for the country’s economy.

To train modern highly qualified specialists for the sectors of the economy of Uzbekistan, investments in education and state support are needed.