The development of the production and processing of meat and milk products plays an important role in supplying domestic consumer market with the needed products, creating work places and supporting the development of accompanying fields. The Kashkadarya region is considered to be one of the country’s biggest producers of meat and milk products. According to the information of the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in 2008 more than 158,700 tonnes of meat and 575,100 tonnes of milk was produced in the Kakshkadarya region, the main part of which is produced by small enterprises and microfirms. The past experience shows that existing opportunities of development are not used to their fullest capacity. This is especially true in the sphere of processing meat and milk products, demand to which is increasing due to increase in consumption of domestic market and income of the population.

The development of this sector depends on finding the solutions to a number of issues in particularl related to financing and tax, the purchasing of raw materials, gaining permissions, passing different technical procedures etc. It was identified that the main cause of these problems was that businesses do not have enough information regarding the changes in rules and regulations, and measures implemented by the government and services provided by commercial organizations in assisting private sector.

The event was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry the Republic of Uzbekistan, the hokimiat of Kashkadaryo region, UNDP project “Business Forum”, as well as German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

The aim of the activity was to find the ways of resolving the important issues of conducting business in the sphere of production, processing and realization of agricultural products. Managers of enterprises, organizations and farmers of the Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya regions, representatives of government organizations and the local administration and other interested bodies in this sphere participated at the event. Moreover, in order to ensure effective dialogue between stakeholders, specialists in the spheres of enterprise development, attracting financial resources, taxation and customs were also invited to the seminar.

The seminar took place in an interactive mode with the help of using such methods as brain storming, analyzing particular situations, working in small groups. This helped to ensure an active participation of entrepreneurs in finding effective solutions to important problems in the field. The distinctive feature of this seminar was the fact that the participants had an opportunity to formulate and present their own solutions about specific issues.

During the seminar representatives of the “Business Forum Project” made presentations on the topic “Business Facilitation Centers” and “Growing Sustainable Businesses”, which are the new initiatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan and UNDP, aimed at providing practical assistance to the private sector.

The organizers hope that this seminar will help to find solutions to the important issues of conducting entrepreneurial activities, improving legislation in the sphere of production and processing meat and milk products and also to give practical recommendations for further development of the field.