The year’s results in supporting entrepreneurship and plans for 2025 were discussed in a videoconference format.

The Head of state addressed the meeting, outlining the main goals and results achieved:

“The development of entrepreneurship is our strategic task. Entrepreneurs are our strongest support and greatest strength. Therefore, their support should become a daily matter for all leaders – from the center to the lowest level. Especially at the local level, hokims should communicate more often with entrepreneurs, visit enterprises, and live with their concerns. We must protect and value talented business representatives with great potential. They are very valuable people for us”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized.

In this regard, the activities of the Public Council for the Support of Entrepreneurship created under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan were noted. The Council has become a bridge between the state and business, putting forward specific proposals. This year, 5 laws, 101 decrees, and resolutions concerning the most important issues of business support were adopted.

In recent years, the country’s economy has seen an increase in liquidity. This has become the basis for sustainable financing of investment projects. Funds in enterprise bank accounts increased by 20 trillion UZS, reaching 107 trillion UZS. Population deposits increased by 25 trillion UZS and amounted to 105 trillion UZS.

At the end of the year, the total volume of loans reached 275 trillion UZS. In 2025, this figure will exceed 300 trillion UZS. Particular attention will be paid to lending to small businesses: its share will increase from 28 to 40 percent, reaching 120 trillion UZS.

To meet the needs of entrepreneurs, banks plan to attract $6 billion from external sources without state guarantees in 2025. Thanks to enhancing factoring capabilities, these services were provided for $100 million this year.

In 2024, 35 trillion UZS were allocated for infrastructure development – roads, water supply, electricity and gas supply, railways – and next year, it is planned to allocate 43 trillion UZS.

To provide enterprises with a stable energy supply, electricity production reached 82 billion kilowatt-hours. Thanks to the capacities introduced in 2024, in 2025, the production volume will grow to 90 billion kilowatt-hours. In 2025, within the framework of 25 projects with a total cost of $6.4 billion, additional capacities of 4.8 gigawatts will be created.

Currently, there are 24 independent electricity producers in the country. In 2025, the wholesale online electricity market will start working for the first time. As an experiment, the power grids of Samarkand, Jizzakh and Syrdarya regions will be transferred to the management of the private sector. 

Entrepreneurs invested 6.5 trillion UZS in the tourism sector to construct hotels with 24 thousand beds. In 2025, this number will increase by another 30 thousand. In addition to the 17 trade and tourist facilities commissioned this year, another 25 complexes will be added next year.

A separate company was created to develop trade, which allocated $350 million to finance exports. For every dollar invested, entrepreneurs received 6 dollars in export revenue. In 2024, another $300 million will be allocated for these purposes.

In 2024, entrepreneurs acquired 3 thousand state-owned objects and 4 thousand hectares of land with a total value of 11.5 trillion UZS. In 2025, another 4.5 thousand buildings and 6 thousand hectares of land will be offered for business.

The involvement of the private sector in the repair and maintenance of roads, which have long been a state monopoly, is expanding. In 2024, 260 kilometers of roads were transferred to entrepreneurs, and in 2025, this figure will increase to 3 thousand kilometers. With the support of the Asian Development Bank, local contractors will build 841 kilometers of roads in 86 districts.

Digitalization and increased operational efficiency have reduced cargo transportation times by 40 percent in the railway industry. By increasing the time for free unloading of goods at stations from 2 hours to 3 days, entrepreneurs saved 57 billion UZS annually.

In the aviation sector, the number of private companies has reached 14. An additional 6 cargo and 16 passenger aircraft have been put into operation. The airports in Bukhara and Namangan have been transferred to private management, and tenders for the airports in Andijan and Urgench are ongoing.

The President stressed the importance of maintaining a stable tax policy to support an attractive business environment. The primary tax rates will remain unchanged. From January 1, 2025, state property and land will be sold without VAT, the excise tax on mobile communications will be abolished, and double accrual of land tax on agricultural land outside the city will be discontinued. Publishing enterprises will be exempt from paying income tax for 5 years.

Preferences for residents of the IT Park, exempting them from all types of taxes, will be extended until 2040. Benefits for private schools, kindergartens, and foreign specialists will be valid until 2030.

The process of Uzbekistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is entering its final stages. In this regard, benefits that contradict WTO rules are being canceled. At the same time, all conditions will be created for market participants to operate in a fair, competitive environment.

Transport and logistics infrastructure also remain the focus of attention. The work of Khanabad, Mingtepa, Qorasuv, and Uchkurgan border checkpoints has been resumed. In 2025, additional corridors will be built at the Gishtkuprik, Navoi, Davut-ota, Shavat, and Gulbakhor border crossings, increasing their throughput capacity fivefold.

Despite the difficult geopolitical conditions, the country’s economy grew 6.3 percent in 2024, reaching $111 billion. Industry, agriculture, and services attracted $38 billion in investment, and exports exceeded $26 billion.

The President noted the key role of entrepreneurs in achieving these results, creating jobs, and reducing poverty, and expressed his gratitude to them.

Next year, it is planned to increase GDP to $120 billion, exports to $30 billion, and investment to more than $42 billion.

At the meeting, views were exchanged on the necessary steps to achieve these goals. Entrepreneurs proposed simplifying business procedures, deepening raw material processing, increasing products with high-added value, and increasing exports. Having heard the opinions, the Head of state determined the appropriate measures.

First, the importance of increasing the income of private sector workers was emphasized. In this regard, textile and leather industry enterprises that pay their employees a salary of at least 2.5 million UZS, and in which at least 15 percent of workers are from low-income families, will receive tax breaks. For such companies, the profit tax rate and the income tax for their employees will be only 1 percent.

The Head of state noted that similar social criteria for providing benefits can be applied in other sectors of the economy. 

The President stressed the need for entrepreneurs not to limit themselves to bank loans, but to adapt to international standards and independently attract funds from abroad. For this purpose, a center will be created that, with the participation of global consulting companies, will support entrepreneurs in entering international financial markets.

There are 142 companies in the country, the so-called “champions”, with over 5,000 employees and an annual income exceeding 1 trillion UZS. They are becoming multi-industry corporations, contributing to the development of related industries.

To support such promising entrepreneurs and stimulate others, it is proposed to provide them with land and buildings directly and transfer state-owned enterprises to long-term management.

As is known, 7 out of 10 wealthiest companies in the world work in information technology and fintech services. Additional benefits will be provided to create such companies in Uzbekistan. In particular, duty-free import of laboratory equipment and technological installations for research and development (R&D) centers will be allowed.

Uzbekistan has about a thousand deposits and over 100 mineral raw materials reserves. To use them to produce products with high added value, 400 new deposits will be auctioned in January.

Land released from cotton and grain will be auctioned in large lots of up to 50 hectares and sold to professional investors to create industrial plantations. On plots of up to 20 acres, it will be possible to develop shock freezing, sorting, and packaging workshops.

It is planned to develop an updated Customs Code that will meet the World Trade Organization (WTO) requirements and modern conditions.

Following the meeting, the Head of state once again confirmed his commitment to supporting the initiatives and projects of entrepreneurs. 

“The entrepreneurial movement in Uzbekistan is becoming a significant force, and this process is irreversible. No matter what high goals and objectives we set for ourselves at the state level, we and our people count on you first and foremost. The richer our entrepreneurs are, the richer our people will be and the more powerful our state will be. An entrepreneur’s success is the success of our entire people”, the President emphasized.