Deputy Prime Minister Umurzakov said state support for businesses could contribute to building up the economic capacity.
On April 5, speaking at the opening ceremony of the INNOPROM international exhibition in Tashkent, Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov said the Government targeted to substitute imports worth US$ 3 billion through production localisation and raise exports to US$ 1 billion by the end of the year, the Gazeta.uz News Agency reports.
The production localisation programme allows entrepreneurs to participate in more than 2,300 projects implemented in the country and benefit from their participation. The Minister said the Government was currently working to provide greater freedom of action for foreign trade operations. In particular, customs duties and excise taxes on imported goods have been abolished almost completely, and import quotas have been cancelled.
Over the past 4 years, the share of the manufacturing sector to Uzbekistan’s GDP has grown by 10%, and the industrial output has risen by nearly 3.5 times. Umurzakov noted that these achievements in the national economy vividly demonstrated that the state was effectively supporting local businesses, which in its turn testified to the rapid growth of the country’s economic capacity.
