The President of Uzbekistan chaired the meeting on defining measures to ensure the welfare of the population and entrepreneurship development

Yesterday, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a videoconference on ensuring price stability in the markets by increasing food production and creating additional conditions for entrepreneurship, reports “Dunyo” IA correspondent.

According to the press service of the President of Uzbekistan, as is known, due to the current situation in the world, food prices are rising. In such conditions, it is necessary to increase food production to ensure price stability.

In this regard, Uzbekistan has set a goal to harvest this year 7 million 700 thousand tons of wheat, 23 million tons of fruits and vegetables, and ensure uninterrupted supplies of products to the domestic market.

Appropriate measures were discussed at the meeting.

It was noted that, first of all, it is necessary to effectively use more than 300 thousand hectares of land that replenished the land fund. Of these, 80,000 hectares are lands released after the reduction of cotton and grain fields. They were handed over to 254 thousand people based on open competition. This means that 500 hectares of cultivated land appeared in each district.

Noting that the most difficult task for farmers is to find high-quality seeds and sell their products, the Head of the state instructed the Ministry of Agriculture and regional hokims to ensure the supply of high-yielding seeds and seedlings, guaranteed purchase of products. The Horticulture and Greenhouse Development Agency will receive an additional 300 billion UZS from the Agriculture Fund.

Another reserve for growing food crops is the use of over 100 thousand hectares of land around the reservoirs. Measures have been defined to build irrigation networks in these areas, attract entrepreneurs and plant appropriate crops.

It was noted that the restoration of 135 thousand hectares of land withdrawn from circulation is an additional opportunity to grow agricultural products.

Today, the population has 380,000 hectares of household land at its disposal. Growing fruits and vegetables on these lands will not only ensure prosperity in homes, but will also become a source of market saturation. A financing system has been created for this: on February 21 this year, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution on the guaranteed purchase of products grown in households.

The Council of Farmers, Dehkan Farms and Owners of Household Lands was instructed to train the population and promote the cultivation of popular crops with the participation of experienced farmers.

Owners of household lands may face a lack of water for irrigation. Therefore, the Ministry of Water Resources was tasked with taking measures to clean canals and ditches in mahallas, dig wells and install pumps in areas with difficult water supply, and provide the population with irrigation water. It was noted that 50 billion UZS would be allocated from the republican budget for these purposes, and another 50 billion UZS from local budgets.

It was also decided to adopt a special program to mitigate the consequences of water shortages. So, by October 1, 4.5 thousand kilometers will be cleaned and 231 kilometers of irrigation networks will be concreted, 3 thousand hydraulic structures will be repaired, more than 3 thousand pumps will be installed, and 281 wells will be built.

Issues of financial support for the agricultural sector were considered.

In 2022, commercial banks were provided with 2 trillion UZS of concessional loans. However, to date, out of applications for 790 billion UZS submitted to commercial banks, only 53 percent have been financed, and in some regions – 25-30 percent. The work of banks in this direction has been criticized. Additional instructions have been given.

The main attention was paid to measures to increase the production of grain and raw materials for vegetable oil. It was proposed to provide for customs benefits and exemption from value-added tax for sunflower, soybeans and other oilseeds imported from abroad.

The second issue on the agenda of the meeting was further support for entrepreneurship.

It was noted that business activity has recently decreased in some regions, entrepreneurs are facing credit, tax and infrastructure problems.

Therefore, the Head of the state put forward several initiatives aimed at stimulating and assisting entrepreneurs.

It was instructed to allocate additional funds to the State Entrepreneurship Support Fund and increase the effectiveness of financial assistance.

In the service sector, the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity will provide loans for up to 5 billion UZS. At the same time, the loan rate will not exceed 18 percent, taking into account compensation from the Entrepreneurship Fund.

At the same time, $300 million will be allocated to finance small and medium business projects in the regions. These funds will be placed in the national currency at a rate of 10 percent for 7 years in banks offering the best conditions for entrepreneurs. At the same time, the rate on a loan provided to an entrepreneur will not exceed 14 percent.

The problems of exporting enterprises were analyzed and additional opportunities were defined. A simplified mechanism for the return of value-added tax will be introduced, 80 percent of the funds will be returned within 7 days without additional checks.

A new system of continuous study and quick resolution of exporters’ issues has been announced. To do this, a constantly working headquarters and a call center with the number “1094” will be created. Responsible persons will regularly meet with exporters and solve their problems on the spot.

An urgent issue is the auction of land plots for doing business. Therefore, a working group has been created under the Cabinet of Ministers, which will coordinate the work to identify free plots in the context of mahallas, form projects with the involvement of professional organizations, and sell land plots.

The President set the task to simplify the system of tax administration and verification of entrepreneurs from June 1, 2022.

First of all, in connection with the transition of the property tax calculation system to market principles, the procedure for applying an effective tax mechanism (additionally high tax rates) for inefficiently used facilities will be canceled.

Entrepreneurs with a turnover of over 1 billion UZS will automatically be issued a certificate of value-added tax payer without preliminary verification.

It was noted that this year the number of inspections of entrepreneurs has increased. To prevent unreasonable interference, it was established that from now on, another 22 types of inspections can be carried out only with the permission of the Business Ombudsman.

The need for further simplification of permit requirements was also emphasized. The task was set to revise the sanitary requirements for public catering establishments, eliminate obsolete requirements, and introduce benefits for delivery service providers.

Following the meeting, the Head of the state drew attention to the issue of the rational use of funds.

“500 million dollars are allocated for entrepreneurship. Why? Because, no matter how difficult it may be, in the current difficult situation, we must think about the well-being of our people and the sustainable development of our state. Every dollar, every sum, whether it is allocated from the budget or the bank, is the money of the people”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

Strict instructions were given to allocate funds only to those projects that will pay off, increase the incomes of the population, and create jobs.

At the videoconference, hokims presented their specific plans based on the action plans.

“Dunyo” IA