Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 5 October 2021 the international conference “Uzbekistan: rapid reforms in five years” was held in Tashkent. The event, organized by the Center for Development Strategy, the Senate of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Justice included reports on the results of reforms implemented by the government members, heads of ministries and agencies, assessments and opinions of civil society representatives, national and international experts.

The conference became a kind of an international dialogue platform, which gave participants the opportunity not only to familiarize themselves with the key results of the reforms implemented under the Action Strategy, but also to present their assessments and recommendations, which will be taken into account in developing measures for further reforms in the country.

The “Action Strategy on five priority directions of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2017-2021” has become a strategic document of the country on the implementation of political, legal, economic and social reforms. And the current year is the final period of implementation of this strategy. The priority areas of the Development Strategy include: 

Improvement of state and public construction;

Ensuring the Rule of law and further reforming the judicial system;

Development and liberalization of the economy;

Development of the social sphere;

Ensuring security, interethnic harmony and religious tolerance, and the implementation of a balanced, mutually beneficial and constructive foreign policy.

The Center for Development Strategy invited to the conference not only the representatives of the parliament and government, ministries and agencies, but also civil society activists, the media, entrepreneurs, and international experts who participated in the event online.

The Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis Tanzila Narbayeva, Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Kuchkarov, UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan Mr. Yu Yu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov, Minister of Justice Ruslanbek Davletov made their welcoming remarks.

The Head of EU Delegation to Uzbekistan Charlotte Adrian, Vice-President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe Philip Dimitrov, Head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Representative office in Uzbekistan Alkis Drakinos and Chief Representative JICA Uzbekistan office Suguru Miyazaki, OSCE Project Coordinator Hans-Ullrich Ihm and others were among the speakers.

During the conference, the Executive Director of the Center for Development Strategy Eldor Tulyakov presented to the public a new generation of media products – a single electronic platform Reforms.uz, which contains detailed information on the results of reforms in a simple and accessible form. In the process of creating the platform, experts of the Center for Development Strategy and the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan have studied a large amount of data – both official figures and statistics of government agencies, and reports of international organizations, opinions of foreign experts and civil society. Now any resident of the country can see the results of reforms on specific subject, which is of interest to them, and all figures on the platform are given in comparative form: for time periods from 1991 to 2016 and from 2017 to 2021.

“This platform displays the key results of the reforms implemented as part of the 2017-2020 Action Strategy. At the same time, the results achieved over the last five years are given in comparison with the previous years, before the beginning of the implementation of the Action Strategy. The platform also contains the opinions and assessments of ordinary citizens, international experts, and their perceptions of the course of reforms. When preparing the unified electronic base, we requested statistical data from over 70 ministries and agencies, we studied the materials of international organizations, and conducted a close dialogue with the institutions of civil society. Our task was to show the residents of Uzbekistan the results achieved in a simple and understandable way. To make this complex language of statistics, dry numbers, complex charts and graphs understandable to everyone – to professionals, to foreign experts, and to ordinary citizens. We have selected 400 key indicators from thousands of submitted documents, and presented them in a convenient and understandable comparative format. Now every resident of our country can personally see these results and evaluate breakthrough nature of the implemented initiatives. Reforms.uz is five years of reforms in figures, facts and opinions. Our main task is to show our citizens that participation in the reform process brings results, that it is necessary to continue the course of reforms, to continue it together.” – Eldor Tulyakov commented.

Key results of reforms in each area of the 2017-2021 Action Strategy:

Area of “Improvement of state and public construction”

Administrative reform aimed at improving the efficiency of the state apparatus has started and is still underway. 110 ineffective interagency bodies were abolished, 10 new ministries and agencies were created, and 6 state functions were transferred to the private sector.

Parliament’s role in managing state and public affairs is growing. The institution of the Government Hour was introduced; the chambers of the Oliy Majlis periodically hear reports of Ministers of Healthcare, Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, Justice, and other members of the government. In 2019, the practice of quarterly hearing of government reports on the implementation of the State Program was introduced.

Since 2017, the President’s public reception offices and virtual reception offices have been operating in Uzbekistan, providing direct contact with the population, prompt response and elimination of problems on the ground. Between 2017 and 2020, 10.1 million appeals went through them.

As a result of the reduction of bureaucracy, the number of documents required to obtain public services decreased twofold (from 167 to 79). For 4 years, the number of services provided on the basis of the “One Stop Shop” principle increased 10 times (from 16 to 157).

Area of “Ensuring the Rule of law and further reforming the judicial and legal system”

In 2017-2020, the independence of the judiciary was strengthened. In 2018, administrative courts were created to appeal illegal actions (inaction) of state bodies. In 2019-2020, they considered 31.3 thousand applications and settled almost 70% (21.2 thousand), including 2.6 thousand decisions of khokims that were found illegal.

The emergence of the institution of business ombudsmen has strengthened the protection of entrepreneurs. In 2017-2020, Business Ombudsmen received 13.4 thousand applications, as a result of which:

930 responsible persons were subjected to disciplinary charges, 1,513 – to administrative charges,

1,034 unlawful decisions of state and supervising agencies were cancelled,

95.1 billion Uzbek soums were collected through the courts in favor of business entities.

Also, civil rights reforms were carried out: the system of “residence registration” was reviewed, 197 rehabilitation centers for women victims of violence were created, the procedure of issuing “protection orders” was introduced (since 2019, 8,400 orders were issued), and the procedure for obtaining citizenship was simplified. A system of “green” and “red” corridors was introduced at the country borders.

As a result of the conducted reforms, Uzbekistan for the first time was accepted as an equal member of the UN Human Rights Council.

Area of “Development and liberalization of the economy”

Between 2017 and 2020, the foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan increased 1.4 times, the inflation rate decreased from 18.8% to 11.1%, and foreign exchange reserves increased from $26.4 billion to $34.9 billion.

The rates of most taxes decreased due to reforms: the single social payment from 15% for small businesses and 25% for large businesses went down to 12%, personal income tax – from 22.5% (maximum rate) to 12%, VAT – from 20% to 15%, corporate income tax – from 14% to 12%, the property tax – from 5% to 2%. Also, deductions to state funds and insurance premiums were abolished, and the types of tax audits were reduced from 13 to 4.

In 2017, restrictions on cash circulation were lifted and there was an opportunity to withdraw money from ATMs. In 2020, holders of plastic cards withdrew 62.2 trillion Uzbek soums through ATMs.

The currency exchange market was liberalized: restrictions on the sale and purchase of foreign currency were abolished. As a result, the volume of foreign currency purchased by the population has increased 15-fold (from $273 million in 2016 to $4.1 billion in 2020). The average annual depreciation of the market (informal) exchange rate in 1998-2016 was 24.4%, while in 2017-2020 it was 10.4%.

Uzbekistan abolished customs duties on all exported goods and services, simplified the export and licensing procedure, set “zero” rates of customs duties for 60% of imported goods and reduced the rates of import customs duties to 6.45%.

As a result of the reforms, the small business sector has grown significantly: 27,000 small businesses were registered in Uzbekistan in 2016, while in 2020 the amount went up to 93,000.

Area of “Development of social sphere”

The past period was marked by an increase in living standards. Average monthly salary increased from 1.3 million Uzbek soums in 2016 to 2.6 million Uzbek soums in 2020. Total per capita income for the same period rose from 5.8 million Uzbek soums to 11.7 million Uzbek soums.

The healthcare system continues to be strengthened: the amounts allocated from the budget for this sphere increased 2.1 times, the equipment and facilities of medical institutions were enhanced by 7.5 trillion Uzbek soums.

In 2017-2020, Uzbekistan allocated 1,618 billion Uzbek soums for medicines and medical products (as compared to 227 billion Uzbek soums in 1991-2016). Of these, 61.6 billion Uzbek soums were allocated for medicines to treat oncological diseases (8.3 billion Uzbek soums in 1991-2016), 217.4 billion Uzbek soums for medicines for hematology and oncohematology (2.8 billion Uzbek soums in 1991-2016).

As a result of reforms in the public education system, 328 new schools were established in 2017-2020 and 11-year compulsory school education was restored.

Big changes took place in preschool education. In 2016 there were only 5,200 kindergartens operating, while in 2020 there were 18,300 operating (the number of state-owner kindergartens increased from 5,000 to 6,200). The pre-school enrollment rate in 2020 reached 61% against 27.7% in 2016.

Breakthrough results were achieved in higher education. More than 80 new universities were re-created, about 20 branches of foreign universities were opened, and 10 private universities started operating for the first time.

The practice of engaging teaching staff and medical workers into forced labor was eradicated. Since 2019, pensions for working retirees have been paid at a 100% rate.

Uzbekistan was actively working to reduce poverty: its level fell from 28% in 2000 to 11% in 2020. Low-income families are exempt from paying for kindergartens, and schoolchildren from low-income families are provided with seasonal clothing. Citizens on the lists of “Temir Daftar” (“Iron Notebook”), “Ayollar Daftari” (“Women’s Notebook”) and “Yoshlar Daftari” (“Youth’s Notebook”) receive state support in the form of vocational training, employment and financial assistance.

Area of “Ensuring security, interethnic harmony and religious tolerance, implementation of balanced, mutually beneficial and constructive foreign policy”

For the first time Uzbekistan was removed from the list of countries “of a particular concern” with regard to religious issues, friendly and mutually beneficial relations with neighbors were strengthened, and the issues of borders and the use of water and energy resources were resolved.

Now Uzbekistan has a visa-free regime for the citizens of 86 countries (in 2016 it was valid for 9 countries), the republic has moved up several positions in international rankings.

The defense potential has been strengthened: the share of servicemen under contract has increased to 68% (37% in 2016), the level of equipment of the army with modern weapons has increased fivefold.