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Thorough analysis of the Republic's socio-economic development in 2006 made by the President Islam Karimov of the Republic of Uzbekistan in his address to a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, which discussed the last year's performance results and outlined development priorities for 2007, compels all of us again and again to critically assess the overall outcome of what has been accomplished and to determine the scope of work to be done, taking into account the vitally important priorities delineated by the leader of our state.
For the foreign economic department, intensifying work on the attraction of foreign investments and, above all, direct investments, constitutes the highest priority. For all the positive tendencies unfolding on this front of late, direct liaison with potential investors, however, remains insufficient. Even more troubling is a dearth of information experienced by foreign investors about a highly auspicious investment climate created in Uzbekistan and a range of business opportunities on offer. The Agency for Provision of Information and Assistance to Foreign Investors, Uzinfoinvest, set up at the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade on the initiative of the Uzbek President, is designed to bridge this gas.
One of the major tasks entrusted to the Agency is to provide extensive coverage and to conduct wide-ranging explanatory work in overseas business circles and the mass media, highlighting the enormous economic, intellectual and resource potentialities available in Uzbekistan. Other relevant areas to be meticulously explained to foreign investors include: favorable conditions nurtured in the Republic for the attraction of foreign investments; information support of foreign investors; opportune provision of the latter with comprehensive information on promising projects, the regulatory and legal framework for carrying out investment activity in the country, including the established privileges and preferences granted when implementing investment projects and suchlike. To be sure, the range of activities to be undertaken by the Agency will also encompass the organization of meetings and talks between foreign investors and domestic entrepreneurs, as well as the arrangement and conduct of theme exhibitions, forums, presentations, conferences and seminars abroad. To scale up their interest in the development of business in Uzbekistan, our foreign partners should be kept informed of the significant investment avenues and legal guarantees bestowed upon investors in the Republic.
A sizable increase in the volume of foreign investments, first of all FDI, channeled to different sectors of the national economy, should be one of the main practical upshots of the Agency's multifaceted performance.
It is directly relevant to mention at this stage that the volume of foreign investments attracted to Uzbekistan last year exceeded US $1.2 billion. Compared with the 2003 level, the volume of implemented foreign direct investments increased 4-fold, with their share of the gross volume of implemented foreign capital rising from 28 per cent to 76 per cent. At the same time, special note should be made of optimization of FDI inflows across the priority sectors of the national economy. Of the overall volume of foreign investments implemented in these sectors in 2006, 30 per cent was accounted for by projects to prospect for and develop new oil and gas deposits, 20 per cent was injected in the light industry and 15 per cent went to the development of information systems, telecommunications and other hi-tech sectors.
As well as being highly important per se, these results provide convincing evidence of foreign investors' growing confidence in our country as a reliable business partner and their acknowledgment of the efficiency of democratic and market reforms carried out nationwide. Viewed from this perspective, the tasks and objectives to be addressed by Uzinfoinvest are varied and responsible. The foreign investor should have a clear idea of the fact that the Agency is exactly that very organization he can approach for detailed information on any question and every kind of assistance in realizing one or another investment project.
Interacting with the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade, the Uzinfoinvest Agency has joined, right from the start, the ongoing process of formation of Uzbekistan's positive investment image. Recent studies of the national market's capacity suggest that within the next three years, it is necessary to attract an estimated US $2.5 billion worth of foreign investments only to precipitate modernization and technical re-equipment of enterprises in processing sectors, including US $800 million - in the chemical industry, US $700 million - in the light industry, US $400 million - in the production of building materials and US $300 million - in the processing of farm produce. Wide employment of investment agreement and PSA conclusion practices, plus the creation of special economic zones are regarded as the sure-fire tools for stimulation of both the concentration and inflow of foreign investments in the priority directions.
The State Investment Program and regional programs for the attraction of foreign investments have an essential role to play in ensuring that foreign capital invested in the Uzbek economy is implemented in the most efficient and opportune manner. This year, it is planned to implement more than US $1 billion worth of foreign investments, including approximately US $700 million worth of FDI within the SIP's framework only. At the same time, sources of funding and concrete investors have already been identified for all the projects included in the address part of the State Investment Program. Moreover, coordination and approval of their feasibility studies and realization schedules have been brought to completion. All necessary conditions are now in place in Uzbekistan for a further expansion of financial and technical cooperation with Japan, Korea, Germany, France, Spain, China, Poland, as well as with a number of international financial institutions in the current year. In 2007, foreign investments will be directed, in the first place, to the development of the social sphere, small and private businesses, industry and transport infrastructure, power engineering and introduction of energy-saving technologies. The total volume of attracted investments may well exceed US $370 million, including grants to the tune of US $20 million.
Beyond this, regional programs for the development of processing sectors, expansion of the nation's exports potential and creation of new jobs countrywide in the period 2007-2009 stipulate the implementation of as many as 436 projects for a total of US $1.5 billion. Resolution of these large-scale tasks, alongside active work on the attraction of investors from abroad to the processes of privatization, modernization and technical re-equipment of economically non-viable domestic enterprises, is one of the constituent parts of activity carried out by the Uzinfoinvest Agency.
For now, apart from tackling a number of organizational issues, active work is already under way on the preparation of business and investment guides, advertising video-clips and investment brochures. As for the Agency's website, the development of its design has been recently finalized. A presentation intended for domestic and foreign business circles and potential business partners the Uzinfoinvest Agency plans to conduct in the near future will mark the beginning of activity of a structure that can well be called the country's "investment visiting-card".
As the President Islam Karimov of the Republic of Uzbekistan pointed out, great hopes are pinned on the Agency. Its responsibility is amplified by the fact that Uzinfoinvest is entrusted with shaping and maintaining the Republic's irresistible image in the international arena.
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Date: Apr 07, 2007
Source: Delovoy partner.uz |
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