The visit was organized within the joint project of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan and UNDP “Support of microfinance sector development” in cooperation with the GTZ project “Assistance to development of microfinance in Central Asia” and Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP).

It is necessary to note that the UNDP and GTZ projects assist Uzbekistan to support improvement of legislation and regulatory base for microfinancing, as well as strengthening potential of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan in regulating microfinance sector. The visit was organized to assist the Uzbek officials to learn the best practices.

Malaysia became one of the successful countries in developing microfinance sector due to deep analysis of regulating framework for the microfinance organizations. Currently, over 435,000 microenterprises operate in Malaysia. The average growth of microfinance sector makes up 33.4% a year with total volume of issued loans for US$575 million.

During the study tour, the officials considered requirements to microfinance organizations, legislative and normative acts, supervision and regulation of off-banking financial organizations, etc. The participants also got acquainted with functions of microfinance organizations, accountability, state programme on support small businesses in Malaysia.

The Uzbek officials visited various microfinance organizations and enterprises and held negotiations at the Central Bank, Ministry of Agriculture, public and private banks of Malaysia. It is expected that the Uzbek officials will use new knowledge to improve legislative base of microfinance in Uzbekistan.

Zafar Umarov, director of Agency on Developing Financial Sector under the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, said the visit allowed to learn mechanisms of microfinance sector support, used in Malaysia. He added that the visit also helped to understand all advantages and necessity to create guarantee fund in Uzbekistan.