INFORMATION DIGEST №243
November 27, 2012
ECONOMY
Big Hopes on Small Business
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Meeting at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry ofUzbekistan
SOCIETY
About Ancient Manuscripts
ECONOMY
Big Hopes on Small Business
The “small economy” accounts for 75.5 percent of all the employed in Uzbekistan
Today, to say that small business has come to be the locomotive of economy means to repeat the truth already well known around the world. Experts point out that another thesis is nowadays on vogue: namely, that the "small economy" has been not merely about the needs of the market, but that it also constitutes a keen stimulus for the latter’s advancement. Many countries have eventually redirected their business models on upholding the domestic demand, which, in turn, cannot be spearheaded without the rise in living standards, robust social infrastructure and jobs creation across regions. Likewise in Uzbekistan, small business and private entrepreneurship has come be at the fore of this process.
The pivot of the economic model
In modern conditions, it is really hard to overestimate the significance of the "small economy" in life of Uzbekistan. Over the last seven years, 5 million new jobs were created in our country; more than 60% of them account for small business and private entrepreneurship. While creating new jobs, this sector shaped and still shapes country’s middle class – backbone of any democratic society. Due to flexibility and efficiency of its small enterprises, Uzbekistan’s economy was able to quickly adjust its development model during the first wave of the crisis in 2008-2009; this fact also helped to overcome its negative consequences with fewer losses.
Over the first 9 months of 2012, small business enterprises have created 51% of country’s GDP, which is 0.5 % more than they had done during the same period last year. In tote, this sector of the economy has released industrial production on more than 7.8 trillion soums, and draw investments equivalent to 5.39 trillion soums. It exported goods worth $ 1.65 billion and performed construction works on 5.67 trillion soums.
However, perhaps the most important aspect of the "small economy" is its ever-increasing dynamic of job creation. It grew both in quantitative and qualitative indicators. 75.5% of country’s total working forces, which makes more than 9.21 million people, were employed in this sphere, from January to September. Moreover, the number of small business enterprises, that manufacture export-oriented products using high technological modern equipment, is growing. One fact can not be unmentioned. Foreign investors provide not only financial resources, but also bring modern technologies to establish successful enterprises.
On the other hand, small businesses are at the forefront of the process of introducing IT into their operations. Just ten years ago, accountants were losing a lot of time in queues to submit tax, statistical and other reports. Today, this problem doesn’t exist. For example, this year, the number of companies who send tax statements via electronic tools exceeds 84%. During first five month of the year, more than 1.5 million tax and financial statements were declared in the country by distant mode.
Of course, these processes are pushed forward in the country mainly by its government. It is its main role – to be in active dialogue with entrepreneurs in order to create comfortable conditions for business through eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic barriers. This work will go on. It has been planned in the country to gradually switch small businesses and private entrepreneurship, till the end of 2014, to electronic mode of delivering tax and financial reports. A single integrated information resource base of tax authorities is now being created to meet this goal.
Talking about domestic small business it should be noted that its dynamic development would not have been possible without close collaboration among business, governmental agencies and, of course, banking sector, which has optimized its system of preferential loans in accordance with the needs of time. Banks have provided entrepreneurs with convenient mechanism for their further development. In 2011, the banking sector of the country directed on the development and promotion of small businesses nearly $2.5 billion. This amount of funds accounts to 26% of total loans provided by the banks over the same period. During three quarters of 2012, the volume of loans given to small businesses increased by 1.3 times, if compared to the same period of the last year, and amounted to about 4.2 trillion soums. The volume of microcredits increased 1.4 times, and rose to 857.2 billion soums. International financial institutions also made significant contribution. They provided loans on over $1.5 billion to finance small businesses and private sector of the country.
Key aspect
Perhaps most noticeably, small business and private entrepreneurship predominate in agriculture. Today, some 98.1% of the total agricultural production is made by small businesses. Therefore so much attention given to the agricultural sector is quite understandable and justified. The past week has written a new chapter in the development of farming in the country. Tashkent hosted the founding conference of the Council of Farmers of Uzbekistan. This new organization is an offspring of the abolished Association of Farmers.
Uzbekistan has always paid special attention to agricultural sector. During the first years of independence, the main stake was made on farmers as the main initiators of changes in the regions, job creators, and developers of social infrastructure. And, looking ahead, let's say that farmers' movement has meet those expectations; it turned not just in a mere producer of agricultural products, but into a force capable to take responsibility for further development of agricultural and other related sectors and industries, as well as to rise the level and living quality of the population.
Over the past twenty years, a set of measures has been implemented in Uzbekistan to strengthen material and technical base of farms, to optimize their land use. These measures ensured sustainable growth and efficiency of the farms due to more rational use of land, water and material resources.
However, modern conditions demanded new, qualitative changes in the field. Therefore, the decision to establish the new organization, of course, was not spontaneous. A survey showed that the current system of organization and management of farming, and in particular, the activity of the Association of Farmers and its regional structures, did little influence on the process of reformation and improvement of agricultural productivity. It feebly facilitated farmers to manage their tasks.
350 farmers from Karakalpakstan and from all regions of the country attended the founding conference of the Council of Farmers of Uzbekistan. It became a kind of horn, a discussion forum for farmers from all over the country to discuss issues such as what direction farming movement of the country should follow, and what has to be done to make substantive breakthrough in the agriculture. Perhaps, it was the first event in the recent history of the country when so large number of participants from different regions of the country gathered together in a single place to address issues and to share their own views on the matter. During the founding conference, Sadikjan Turdiev, head of the farm Asaka Jilosi from Asaka district of Andijon region, was elected by the participants of the conference as the chairman of the Council of Farmers of Uzbekistan. The participants also adopted a special appeal to the farmers of the country, where they outlined the prospects of the agricultural sector.
Moreover, to further support the movement, the President of Uzbekistan has approved, in late October, a special program of measures for further improvement of the legal basis for the development of farming. This document identifies three main development directions for this sphere. Legislative and regulatory framework for this sphere will be seriously improved. For instance, there will be new tax breaks for farmers. Employees hired for seasonal agricultural works to harvest cotton will be exempt from tax on personal income. And those farmers who will introduce a drip irrigation system will be free from payments on single land tax for a period of five years. In order to enhance farmers’ role in villages and to promote their diversified activities, a number of proposals will be elaborated soon to provide farmers with tax remissions and exemption from some mandatory payments.
Special emphasis in the program is done to establish mechanisms of self-government and to strengthen organizational issues of farming, and to improve interaction between farmers and state authorities. In particular, special protocol will be created in the near future. It will regulate the participation of relevant farmer councils in the process of creation by public, economic and state local authorities of normative legal acts and other decisions related to the development and functioning of farming, including questions such as land use, sort placement, rational use of water resources and improvement of the irrigated lands.
However, the main direction of the program is to strengthen economic independence and financial sustainability of farms. To do this there will be a set of measures that will optimize cropping, taking into account averagely increased sizes of farms’ lands, and directed to improve soil fertility and implementation of science-based system of crop rotation. The plan also stipulates to open consulting centers in rural areas that will provide assistance on legal, economic, financial, agricultural and other issues. Much attention will be paid to improve farmers’ skills. Training courses will be opened under vocational colleges and higher educational institutions related to agriculture; at the end of the courses, farmers with get special certificates. (Source: Uzbekistan Today newspaper)
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Meeting at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry ofUzbekistan
Meeting with the delegation of Council of young entrepreneurs and the representatives of KinnairdCollege (Pakistan) took place at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan A.Shaykhov noted that under the direction of the President Islam Karimov, a purposeful work is being carried out in our country on providing young people more opportunities for conducting business activities.
Between the two countries, such spheres like light and food industry, as well as tourism that demands new approaches to cooperate with foreign countries are developing dynamically.
Pakistan’s delegation consisted of the representatives of textile, chemical, food, tanning industry, production materials, tires, leather accessories and tourism familiarized themselves with the educational system of higher educational institutions of our country and the conditions provided to the students.
An online conference was held with regions of our country, thanks to which the guests received a wide range of information about the economic potential of the regions.
The issues on strengthening of the cooperation of business owners of the two countries have been discussed during the meeting. (Source: UzA news agency)
SOCIETY
About Ancient Manuscripts
New edition has been presented
A new book ‘The Treasury of Oriental Manuscripts’ is presented to the wider public that has been published within the UNESCO project on preservation of collection of manuscripts of the Abu Rayhon Beruni Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan.
“The Institute of Oriental Studies has been cooperating with the UNESCO Office in Uzbekistan for several years within the project ‘Preservation of the Funds of Manuscripts.’ The project is aimed at giving a new urge to the issues of preservation and study of valuable historical documents that are stored in the Institute funds. Great work has been done for the last period,” says Bahrom Abduhalimov, director of the Abu Rayhon Beruni Institute of Oriental Studies.
Key tasks of the project become the improvement of potential and qualification of workers of the Institute on conservation, restoration, as well as use of the fund. Within the project has been organized a series of seminars and trainings with participation of international experts. They conducted trainings on restoration of manuscripts, Islamic bookbinding, and many others. Some workers have got the opportunity to improve their proficiency in Saudi Arabia, share experiences, and acquire new skills.
“In addition, we have implemented a range of repair work in the archive itself, procured new equipments from Italy, tables, tools, chemicals and other laboratory facilities, thereby improving the state and conditions of premises, where ancient manuscripts are stored,” tells Sanjarbek Allayarov, culture expert at the UNESCO Office in Uzbekistan. “A special part of the project turned the publication of various editions, one of which is the book ‘The Treasury of Oriental Manuscripts’, prepared by specialists of the Abu Rayhon Beruni Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, and international experts Marco Di Bella and Antonio Mirabella from Italy. The authors strove for presenting the wider public with the manuscript fund of the Institute of Oriental Studies that was available only to a narrow circle of scholars.”
The edition is a collection including materials, characterizing the collection of the Institute, represented by more than 26 thousand manuscript and 39 thousand printed books on Arabic scripts. It also covers the history of collection of the fund of manuscripts and its thematic description, as well as the art of book-writing and activities of representatives of various calligraphic schools, ornamental design of manuscripts and special features of their binding. Much attention is given to the issues of development of papermaking and characteristics of various kinds of manuscripts. The book also has the chapter about the project on conservation and examination of the state of the Institute’s collection.
At the presentation of the book that took place in the Abu Rayhon Beruni Institute of Oriental Studies was demonstrated the film on the results of the UNESCO project on ‘Preservation of the Fund of Manuscripts.’ Director of the Institute Bahrom Abduhalimov, his deputy Surayyo Karimova, head of UNESCO Office in Tashkent Krista Pikkat, as well as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Uzbekistan Mr. Abdulrahmon bin Abdullah Alshaya delivered speeches at the event.
“To my view, the rich collection of manuscripts of the Institute is of a big historical, cultural and scientific value. It is important to make it available across the globe and preserve it for the future generations,” noted Mr. Abdulrahman bin Abdullah Alshaya. (Source: Uzbekistan Today newspaper)
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