Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - As part of the official visit of the government delegation of Uzbekistan to the Czech Republic, an Uzbek-Czech business forum was held in Prague today, on 11 October.

At the business forum, which was attended by the prime ministers of the two countries, the essence of the comprehensive measures being implemented in our country to further improve the business environment and support private entrepreneurship under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was discussed.

In particular, it was noted that important decisions were made to support private business, more than two hundred licenses and permits were canceled, the total number of taxes was reduced from 13 to 9, and the rates of some of them were halved.

It was mentioned that the foreign exchange market in Uzbekistan was liberalized and all restrictions on the repatriation of income were lifted. Starting this year, the value added tax rate has been reduced from 15 to 12 percent.

A program for the privatization of large banks, industrial and infrastructure facilities was adopted. Within its framework, about a thousand enterprises and large objects were put up for sale.

The principle of public-private partnership is actively implemented in the implementation of projects in the fields of energy, transport, healthcare, education, infrastructure development and road construction.

Today, the introduction of a visa-free regime for citizens of more than 90 foreign countries has made Uzbekistan the most open country in the region.

In order to protect the rights of investors, a separate law on investments and investment activities was adopted, and the institution of a business ombudsman under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan was introduced.

The experience of countries with stable economic development shows that before investing in a particular country, an entrepreneur carefully studies the opportunities there. In this regard, the development strategy of Uzbekistan until 2030 was adopted. The document identifies a number of important tasks to further improve the business environment.

The main goal of the strategy is to build an open, modern and rapidly developing country. Uzbekistan has enough opportunities for this; in general, attention was drawn to the fact that Czech business has great prospects for entering the Uzbekistan market.

As a result of the business forum, important bilateral documents were adopted and signed.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov and Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala adopted a Joint Declaration on the establishment of expanded cooperation, which provides prospects for deepening bilateral relations by increasing trust in the political, trade-economic, investment and cultural-humanitarian spheres.

In addition, the following bilateral documents aimed at enhancing cooperation were signed with the participation of the heads of delegations:

Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Government of the Czech Republic on the readmission and transit of persons;

Protocol on the implementation of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Government of the Czech Republic on the readmission and transit of persons;

Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Government of the Czech Republic on the exemption of holders of diplomatic passports from visa requirements.

In addition, within the framework of the Uzbek-Czech business forum, a number of documents were signed aimed at further strengthening expanded cooperative relations and deepening practical cooperation between the two countries.