Why is this important
The Uzbek authorities continue their course toward reducing the administrative burden on businesses and transitioning public services to digital formats. A large number of requirements, permits, and government functions increase company costs, slow down processes, and create additional barriers for investment. The new measures are aimed at simplifying regulation, reducing paperwork, and improving the efficiency of interaction between businesses and the state.
What happened
- Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed a presentation on reducing bureaucracy in the public services sector and revising mandatory requirements for businesses.
- During the discussion, it was noted that despite the abolition of more than 2,000 requirements last year, businesses are still subject to more than 42,000 requirements and over 5,600 related government functions.
- The head of state instructed authorities to accelerate deregulation, digitalization, and the implementation of the “zero bureaucracy” principle across all government agencies.
Numbers and facts
- Over the past year, more than 2,000 requirements in the business sector were abolished, while more than 42,000 mandatory requirements still remain in force for businesses.
- The number of related government functions reaches 5,650, while more than 500 requirements are currently applied separately across 20 documents regulating market activities.
- Systematizing these requirements will make it possible to optimize more than 30% of existing regulations, while sanitary compliance certificates and lists of employees subject to medical examinations are planned to be transferred to electronic format.
- According to estimates, the digitalization of these procedures will save around 1 billion soums annually, while also freeing up 24,000 employee working hours for operational activities.
- Reducing the administrative burden is expected to generate a direct economic effect of around $1.5 billion per year.
- Of this amount, about $800 million is expected to come from attracting additional foreign investment through improved regulatory quality.
- Another approximately $750 million is expected to come from increased labor productivity following the simplification of interactions between businesses and the state.
- The potential economic growth from reducing bureaucracy over the next five years is estimated at $13 billion.
- Authorities are proposing the creation of registers of public services, government functions, and requirements on the reestr.gov.uz platform.
- Plans also include introducing the Bureaucracy Radar system for evaluating government agencies, using artificial intelligence to analyze processes, and calculating entrepreneurs’ expenses through the “Business Calculator”.
- Responsible agencies have been instructed to prepare a draft resolution on eliminating bureaucracy, including separate digitalization and service simplification plans for each government body.
Context
- For businesses, this means a gradual reduction in the number of mandatory procedures and the transition of part of their interaction with the state into digital format.
- Simplifying requirements and reducing duplicate regulations should lower companies’ administrative costs and speed up access to services.
- For government agencies, implementing the “zero bureaucracy” principle means revising their own functions and eliminating unnecessary processes.
- At the same time, authorities expect to make regulation more transparent and attractive for foreign investors through digitalization and shorter compliance timelines.
