The year 2007 for the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Uzbekistan has turned into the year of Good Governance Program promotion. The AmCham representative office has organized five seminars and workshops for different groups of business community in Uzbekistan.

Trainees of the Academy of Social and State Construction, graduate programme students at the Banking and Finance Academy and participants of training courses at the Higher School of Business have benefited from the seminars and workshops on major issues of good governance and business ethics practices.

The final round of seminars series took place in Bukhara and Samarkand. While the partnership relations with the Association of Entrepreneurs in Bukhara with AmCham in Uzbekistan are very well established the partnership with the Samarkand Manufacturer’s Union was just concluded.

AmCham office has initiated this contact after one of the most active member of the Samarkand Manufacturer’s Union "El Holding" corporation was awarded with the special prize for the achievements and promotion of good governance at the "Tashabbus-2007’ entrepreneurial competition.

On 14 September, AmCham in Uzbekistan president Donald Nicholson II, AmCham Executive Director Dr Tatiana Okunskaya, and Chairperson of AmCham Tax and Accounting Committee Vera Makarova were hosting at the Semurg Hotel in Bukhara representatives of the Association of Entrepreneurs of Bukhara and for the tour operators and small hotels owners in Bukhara.

The target of the seminar was to provide as much as possible of practical advices in the area of business’s efficiency, accountability and transparency. Seminar participants were able to get practical advises in bookkeeping, accountability to the company’s founders and transparency with all stake holders, records and reports preparation.

Mr Nicholson explained how to make good governance practice to be built on ethical principals in accordance with the Manager’s activities of the enterprises that must be fair, transparent and accountable; and why the managers must be responsible to their actions as well as to all stakeholders and the society; while employees must observe their responsibilities and perform their positive initiative.

The AmCham representatives presented the Chairperson of the Association Orif Djuraev with the Certificate of appreciation for the outstanding efforts in promotion of good governance and all members with the Manual on Business Ethics sponsored and published by the US Department of Commerce.

The seminar was attended and supported by the representative of Uzbek Chamber of Commerce in Bukhara province Nodir Boltaev.

On 15 September, the representatives of AmCham in Uzbekistan were joined by the AmCham Vice President Oybek Khalilov and the first good governance seminar in Samarkand organized by AmCham in Uzbekistan took place at the Head quarters of the Samarkand Manufacturer’s Union.

The presentations of the AmCham lecturers have turned into a very interactive discussion on the application of Good Governance principals to the practical work and everyday experience.

Large scale companies and enterprises have already established rather complicated structures in order to comply with financial transparency and competent keeping of the financial statements. They have to pass through audit controls that are one of the major flag points of effective and efficient management according to the international standards. Business people from Samarkand and AmCham representatives actively discussed how this can help to improve business climate in Uzbekistan.

Another issue of high interest for the discussion were: "How to restrict the managers’ behavior aliened to extraction of self-profit and to induce managers to conduct business more effectively?"; "How to secure ourselves against unqualified managers and prevent corruption?"; "How to attract more direct external investments that will allow to increase the technical level of the enterprises, to renovate the industrial funds (more than half of which nowadays became morally and physically out of the date) and to introduce advanced technology".

The participants unanimously decided that the tackling of these will also increase competitiveness of the domestic economy, which is extremely relevant issue because of Uzbekistan’s participation in the regional and international integration processes. And no less important is the process of internal investments attraction particularly by the equity market. All over the world investors consider investment’s plans in accordance with the good governance conditions.

The AmCham in Uzbekistan president Donald Nicholson II has awarded the Chairman of the Samarkand Manufacture’s Union Nozir Ibragimov with the Certificate of Appreciation and all members of the Union with the Manuals on Business Ethics published by the US Department of Commerce in English and Russian languages.