Uzbekistan: Business support and growth promotion for business owners

published on 15. April 2025 | reding time approx. 4 minutes

On 19. March 2025, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed Decree No. PD-50 “On measures to increase the role of small and medium-sized businesses in the economy”, which is aimed to support small and medium-sized businesses in Uzbekistan. Its main objectives are to simplify registration for the self-employed individuals, reduce administrative barriers and create conditions for rapid growth of entrepreneurs.

The Decree establishes key goals for SME development, for the achievement of which $10 billion USD is envisaged, of which:

5 billion USD - financing of international partners
5 billion USD - domestic resources (state budget, banks, funds)

Within the framework of entrepreneurship support, 22 trillion UZS of soft loans will be provid-ed to the population:

2.5 trillion UZS - to support youth initiatives
2.5 trillion UZS - for the development of women's entrepreneurship

Additionally, collateral-free loans will be provided:

up to 300 million UZS - for microbusinesses
up to 150 million UZS - for enterprises that have entered the SME category
up to 50 million UZS - under family business programs

One of the innovations is the abolition of state duty for the registration of the individual entrepreneurs as self-employed or legal entities. In addition, the Decree provides for the refund of value added tax (VAT) for business entities that have reached the medium or large business category within one year.

The Decree pays special attention to the transformation of developing enterprises into “champion entrepreneurs”. To obtain this status, a company must fulfill the conditions:

at the regional level, annual turnover must exceed 10 billion sums and create more than 50 jobs
at the republican level in Karakalpakstan, annual turnover must exceed 100 billion sums and create more than 500 jobs
at the national level, annual turnover must be 1 trillion sums and 5,000 jobs

From 1. May 2025, special project offices accelerated for industrial development will be established in 20 districts within Uzbekistan. These offices will be provided for consulting services to entrepreneurs, attracting both domestic and foreign specialists to implement projects that contribute to the growth of export performance. This is expected to provide additional impulses for the development of small and medium-sized businesses.

In addition, from 1. July 2025, the “First Opportunity” principle will be introduced, which ex-empts small businesses from administrative liability for the first offense in trade, reducing risks at the start.

The Decree also simplifies the business liquidation process for small and medium-sized en-terprises. No tax audit will be conducted if the income from the sale of goods for the last three years does not exceed 10 billion UZS, if there are no debts to the budget and creditors, and if the risk of offenses is classified as “low” in the electronic system.

In addition, preferences in the form of simplified loans and microloans will be provided to support businesses. The Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Central Bank will ensure the allocation of 120 trillion UZS to support small and medium-sized businesses, as well as 22 trillion UZS under special entrepreneurship programs. Small and medium businesses in Karakalpakstan will receive additional support, which will simplify the process of obtaining loans for family businesses.

In order to develop the entrepreneurial infrastructure, 250 000 new enterprises have been created in the last three years, which confirms the active development of businesses. Within the framework of reforms to optimize state resources, 150 administrative buildings are transferred to entrepreneurs through auctions, providing them with access to office and production space. Entrepreneurs creating high-tech products have been given the opportunity to rent state property objects with an area of up to 10 000 square meters for a period of up to 5 years free of charge.

The measures taken demonstrate a comprehensive approach to the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Uzbekistan. Decree defines clear priorities for stimulating entre-preneurial activity, expanding employment, increasing exports and creating a competitive business environment in Uzbekistan.

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