(English) Tax burden reduction, renovation, investment — Development strategy: Economics

     Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved the Development Strategy of Uzbekistan until 2026. One of its directions provides for reducing the tax burden to 25% of GDP, attracting $ 120 billion of investments, developing a general scheme for settling the population, building «modern» arrays on the site of dilapidated housing on the basis of renovation and resettlement of 275 thousand families, reducing inflation to 5% in 2023 and more.
     On January 28, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree «On the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026».
     The document approved the state program for the implementation of the strategy, developed on the basis of the principle «From the Action Strategy to the Development Strategy», which includes seven priority areas. The third direction is dedicated to the accelerated development of the national economy and ensuring high growth rates.
     Economy
     It is expected that the volume of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the next five years will increase 1.6 times due to the stable high growth rates in the sectors of the economy. It is planned to increase its size to $ 4,000 per capita by 2030 and create prerequisites for entering the category of «states with an income above average».
     It is planned to reduce annual inflation to 5% by 2023, as well as reduce the state budget deficit with ensuring its size from 2023 at a level of no more than 3% of GDP.
     At least 5% of the budget of each district will be directed to solving the most pressing problems identified on the basis of proposals from the population within the framework of the Citizens’ Budget program. The level of external debt will grow at the level of no more than $ 4.5 billion per year.
     It is planned to increase the share of industry in GDP and achieve a 1.4-fold increase in industrial production. To do this, 23 large enterprises in the fields of mechanical engineering, chemistry, oil and gas, energy, mining and metallurgical industry, transport should independently enter the domestic and foreign financial markets and attract funds for investment projects by obtaining an international credit rating.
     Energy resources and industrial production
     In addition, as part of the acceleration of transformation processes in the energy sector, it was instructed to abolish the monopoly on the supply of electricity and the introduction of market mechanisms in the industry.
     In addition, it is planned to liberalize the market of energy resources and natural gas with the establishment of guarantees of social protection, the widespread attraction of private investment in the sphere, the introduction of social consumption standards to protect vulnerable segments of the population.
     It is planned to ensure an uninterrupted supply of petroleum products to the economy and the population.
     It is also expected to organize clusters of the copper industry in order to double the volume of production of copper and other products using copper, as well as to produce products worth $ 8 billion.
     It is planned to increase the level of natural gas processing from 8 to 20% and achieve the volume of chemical production up to $ 2 billion.
     In the automotive industry, it is planned to develop cooperation and increase the level of localization with an increase in the volume of production by 1.4 times and its export by 2 times. An industrial cluster of agricultural machinery will be created in Chirchik with the transfer of a number of factories from Tashkent.
     The production of building materials and textile products in the next five years will be increased by 2 times, leather and footwear products — by 3 times, pharmaceutical products — by 3 times, products with high added value in the electrical industry — by 2 times and exports — by 3 times, furniture products — by 2.8 times. It is planned to bring the level of provision of the domestic market with domestic medicines to 80%.
     It is also planned to radically increase the volume of geological exploration, to attract large-scale private investors and leading foreign companies to the sphere.
     Monopolies in 14 types of activities are expected to be terminated by revoking exclusive rights and privatizing state-owned companies.
     The program also provides for the uninterrupted supply of electricity to the economy, the active introduction of «green economy» technologies in all spheres, and an increase in the energy efficiency of the economy by 20%.
     By 2026, it is planned to increase the volume of electricity generation by an additional 30 billion kWh, bringing the total generating capacity to 100 billion kWh.
     By increasing the share of renewable energy sources to 25% by 2026, savings of up to 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas are expected.
     It is planned to ensure the stable operation of the power system of Uzbekistan and its reliability in interaction with the energy systems of neighboring states.
     It is also planned to take measures for the production and use of electric vehicles, to reduce emissions of harmful gases into the atmosphere per unit of GDP by 10% by economic sectors.
     The development of the digital economy is defined as the main «driver» with ensuring an increase in its volume by at least 2.5 times.
     By the end of 2026, it is planned to increase the level of digitalization of production and operational processes in the real sector of the economy, in the financial and banking spheres to 70%.
     It is planned to increase the volume of the software products industry by 5 times, and their exports by 10 times, bringing it to $ 500 million.
     Investment
     In the next 5 years, it was instructed to attract investments in the amount of $ 120 billion, including $ 70 billion of foreign investments.
     On the basis of public-private partnership, it is expected to attract investments in the amount of $ 14 billion in the energy, transport, healthcare, education, ecology, utilities, water management and other industries.
     It is envisaged to establish mutual foreign economic relations between the business of the regions of the republic and foreign countries. In particular, it is planned to develop investment and foreign economic relations of the Syrdarya region with China, Surkhandarya region with Russia, Jizzakh region with India.
     There will be an Investor Assistance Center in Surkhandarya Region, a Business Assistance Center at NMMC in Navoi Region, a Center for Advanced Projects and Engineering in Tashkent, and Innovation and Technology Centers in each district to provide practical assistance to entrepreneurs.
     The Tashkent International Investment Forum will be held annually in the capital.
     In five years, the stock market turnover is planned to increase from $ 200 million to $ 7 billion, complete the transformation process in banks with state shares and bring the share of the private sector in the banking system to 60% by the end of 2026.
     Export
     The volume of exports in 2026 is planned to increase to $ 30 billion (by the end of 2021 — $ 16.6 billion), and the share of the private sector in exports — up to 60%.
     It is planned to increase the export of cars by three times, bringing it to $ 1 billion, the export of tourism, transport, information and other services, including programming services, by 1.7 times, bringing their export volumes to $ 4.3 billion.
     The share of finished products and semi-finished products in the export structure is projected to increase by 3.3 times (now — 5.2 billion dollars, 44% of exports), the number of exporting enterprises — from 6500 to 15 thousand and the geography of exports — from 115 to 150 countries.
     200 companies will be selected as part of an open competition to turn them into the country’s leading exporters.
     Free trade zones will appear on the border territories with neighboring states.
     The share of the private sector in GDP is planned to increase to 80%.
     The open dialogue of the President of Uzbekistan with entrepreneurs will be held annually.
     The regions are expected to create 200 new industrial zones, develop a system of business incubators, and develop factoring services.
     The tax burden on entrepreneurs is planned to be reduced from 27.5% to 25% of GDP by 2026.
     Lands
     It is planned to increase the incomes of dehkans and farmers at least twice, ensuring annual growth of agricultural volumes by at least 5%.
     The districts will specialize in growing a specific type of product.
     It is planned to develop 464 thousand hectares of new and decommissioned land areas by allocating land to agricultural clusters on the basis of an open tender. 200 thousand hectares of land from cotton and grain will be reduced with their allocation on the basis of an open tender to the population on long-term lease terms.
     The increase in the area of intensive gardens is projected to be three times, greenhouses — twice, export potential by an additional $ 1 billion.
     As part of the state program for the radical reform of the water resources management system and water saving, it is planned to save at least 7 billion cubic meters of water, reduce electricity consumption at water facilities, and introduce a PPP-based water management system.
     In addition, it is expected to expand the feed base of animal husbandry with an increase in production volumes by 1.5-2 times, livestock products by 1.5-2 times.
     Regions and urbanization
     Five-year programs will be implemented in 14 regions by districts and cities. It was instructed to increase the volume of the regional economy by 1.4-1.6 times to ensure balanced development of the regions
     In the future, Samarkand and Namangan are planned to be turned into «million-plus cities». It is planned to build and commission the first arrays of «New Andijan», designed for 450 thousand inhabitants, bringing the level of urbanization in Kashkadarya region to 50%.
     It is expected to introduce the «Urban Comfort Index» to assess the quality of life of the population in cities.
     Branches of the innovative training and production technopark INNO of Tashkent will appear in four regions of the branches.

     It is planned to develop a general scheme for the settlement of the population, as well as the construction of modern residential arrays with an area of more than 19 million square meters in cities on the site of dilapidated housing on the basis of renovation and housing construction programs, creating conditions for the relocation of over 275 thousand families to new arrays.
     The construction of engineering communications and social infrastructure facilities will continue within the framework of the «Rim Kishlok» and «Rim Mahalla» programs, taking into account the «growth points» of each locality.
     It is planned to build and upgrade in the regions about 80 thousand km of trunk and distribution electric networks, more than 20 thousand transformer stations and more than 200 substations.
     It is planned to bring the level of provision of drinking water to 87% of the population (in 2020 — 67.4%), the renewal of sewerage systems in 32 major cities and 155 district centers.
     Wastewater treatment systems will be taken out of Tashkent, as well as new PPP-based facilities will be built.
     Tourism
     In the next 5 years, the volume of services should increase 3 times with the creation of 3.5 million new jobs in the field.
     It is planned to develop trade services and roadside services by creating 130 modern markets and shopping complexes, as well as 65 large and 5000 small roadside infrastructure service facilities.
     The share of the shadow economy in the service sector is expected to decrease by 3 times (now it is more than 50% of GDP).
     Entrepreneurs will receive more benefits to increase the attractiveness of the service sector.
     It is planned to increase the number of local tourists to over 12 million, foreign tourists to 9 million, and also to increase the number of employed people in the tourism sector by 2 times, bringing their number to 520 thousand.
     Additional tourist zones and recreation areas will be built in Zaamin, Farish, Bakhmal districts and Aidar-Arnasai lake system and projects worth $ 300 million will be implemented with the creation of 25 thousand jobs.
     It is planned to increase the volume of tourist services at least 10 times in the next 5 years by transforming Samarkand into a      «Gateway of tourism». In 2022, the tourist center of Samarkand will be created, which includes the historical complex «Eternal City» with the necessary infrastructure.
     The ecotourism development program is planned to be implemented in Karakalpakstan and the Aral Sea region, pilgrimage and ecotourism in Navoi region, separate tourism programs in Khorezm, Bukhara and Tashkent regions, and improvement of tourism infrastructure in Tashkent is also expected.
     It provides for the development of a unified transport system in conjunction with all modes of transport, the creation of conditions for daily trips on scheduled transport routes between major cities, as well as the improvement of the public transport system and the development of its infrastructure in Tashkent and the regions.

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