BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 8
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI France Russie) held a web conference with the management of Uzbek Foreign Investment Agency, Trend reports with reference to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan.
The conference was attended by specialists from the Trade Representation of Kazakhstan in Russia, AZPROMO (Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation), French Schneider Electric company, Danone Kazakhstan and Russian Kesarev Consulting LLC.
For the event, Kesarev Consulting LLC prepared an overview of the economic situation in the countries under discussion, the market situation and the most vulnerable and affected sectors of the economy from the coronavirus pandemic. It was noted that the leadership of the countries applies various approaches, mechanisms and models to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The representative of the consulting company stressed that tension is expected in Uzbekistan due to the growth in the number of unemployed, return of labor migrants and drop in remittances from abroad by 35 percent compared to last year.
The leadership of the Agency for Foreign Investment Attraction of Uzbekistan provided information on the program of measures to combat the pandemic and measures to support the population and business by the state. It was noted that the Government of Uzbekistan established a Republican Anti-Crisis Commission and Republican Headquarters to support exporters and entrepreneurs.
In addition, the Agency noted the creation of Anti-crisis Fund under the Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan (with a budget of $1 billion), and the introduce of special privileges to support entrepreneurs, economic entities, such as six-month deferral on payment of several types of tax and suspense of the increased tax rates on unused production areas.
In addition, a representative of Schneider Electric said that the Uzbek government is taking measures to organize uninterrupted logistics supply of equipment and raw materials, which allowed the French company to reduce costs during the pandemic.
At the end of the web conference, participants exchanged contacts and noted productivity of meetings in this format.
---
Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini