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Tashkent, December 21, 2006
—An action plan developed by the International Finance Corporation’s Uzbekistan Small and Medium Enterprise Policy Project has been approved by the government of Uzbekistan. Financed by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the plan will introduce Regulatory Impact Analysis in the country. Such analysis, known as RIA, will allow accurate assessment of the impact of existing and proposed regulatory changes and create a regulatory environment that better serves the needs of both private and public institutions.
The Uzbekistan SME Coordination Council, headed by Prime Minister Shavkat Mirzieev with support from key ministries and agencies, approved the action plan, which will have three implementation phases: to train key government officials and develop a plan to further introduce RIA in Uzbekistan; to formulate documents to introduce RIA concepts, including impact calculation and data collection and revelation methodologies of legislative shortcomings; and pilot implementation, at which phase key state bodies and a main coordinating agency will be selected to launch the project.
"The introduction of a working RIA system is a logical approach for technical assistance projects that improve the business climate. Systematic monitoring of the business environment should lead to improved policy decisions that affect the private sector. Our project is ready to help the government of Uzbekistan to implement this system," noted Zafar Khashimov, IFC Project Manager.
Regulatory Impact Analysis was launched in the early 1980s and is now being successfully implemented in over 30 industrialized and developing countries, including the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Mexico, and the United States. It uses a variety of economic analyses, including cost benefit analysis or cost-effectiveness analysis, to examine the implications of government regulations. Some of its institutional and legislative elements are already in use in Uzbekistan.
About IFC
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral provider of financing for private enterprise in developing countries. IFC finances private sector investments, mobilizes capital in international financial markets, facilitates trade, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to businesses and governments. From its founding in 1956 through FY06, IFC has committed more than $56 billion of its own funds for private sector investments in the developing world and mobilized an additional $25 billion in syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. With the support of funding from donors, it has also provided more than $1 billion in technical assistance and advisory services. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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About SECO
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs is the Swiss Confederation's competence center for all the core issues related to the economic policy. It aims to create the basic regulatory and economic policy conditions to enable business to flourish for the benefit of all. SECO also represents Switzerland in the large multilateral trade organizations and international negotiations and is involved in efforts to reduce poverty and help developing countries with transition economies build sustainable democratic societies and viable market economies. Each year, Switzerland spends about 1.9 billion Swiss francs on development cooperation and transition assistance to countries.
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