On February 17, 2020, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on the priority tasks of radically improving the licensing and permit issuance in entrepreneurship.

In a recent Address to the Oliy Majlis, the Head of the state set specific tasks for the complete revision and improvement of the licensing procedure for business activities.

Time requires a reduction in the types of licenses and permits based on international best practices, simplification of the issuance procedure, as well as the development of transparent mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of relevant regulations.

For this purpose, a special working group has been formed consisting of the Ministry of Justice, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Business Ombudsman.

At the meeting, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev identified the main areas of activities of this working group.

The need for excluding from the licensed activities primarily those that do not harm human health and do not harm society was noted.

For example, activities in training centers do not pose a threat to life and health, but are still subject to licensing.

However, some licensing conditions limit competition in the respective areas.

In particular, the only credit bureau is engaged in dissemination of information about credit history, and the requirements established today exclude new entrants to this market. So, to open a credit bureau, it is required to obtain the consent of at least 10 commercial banks. 26 out of 30 existing banks are the founders of the very only credit bureau. Even if the remaining 4 banks agree to create a new bureau, the initiator will not be able to obtain a license.

The need for widespread introduction of alternative methods of regulating entrepreneurial activity was noted at the meeting.

Foreign practice knows such alternatives to licensing as notification procedures, liability insurance, self-regulation, technical regulation. For example, to transfer a residential premise to non-residential in the country, an entrepreneur must obtain a separate permit. In this case, it is enough to notify the government agencies about this.

In the same way, liability insurance or self-regulation can be implemented for subjects of real estate, audit, judicial management and other types of activities.

In this regard, the Ministries of Justice, Emergency Situations and the State Assets Management Agency were tasked with introducing alternative methods of regulating entrepreneurial activity within two months.

The Head of the state also noted the need for reviewing the procedure and terms for issuing licenses and permits.

The Ministry of Justice was instructed to study the terms for issuing licenses and permits, the amount of fees, and determine the conditions in a month.

In addition, there are some cases when an entrepreneur has been collecting documents for a long time to obtain a license, but as a result, for minor reasons, receives a refusal to consider the application.

At the meeting, Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted the need for full implementation of modern technologies in the licensing process.

79 percent of licenses and 80 percent of permits are still issued in paper form. In 2014, the “License” information systems complex was launched, but at present, this portal is not functioning at the proper level. Last year, over 4 thousand licenses were issued without observing the principle of “one window”.

The Ministry for Development of Information Technologies and Communications and the Ministry of Justice have been instructed to put into operation by August 1 this year a fully automated unified electronic system, including all the process related to licensing.

The Head of the state also noted the need for introducing a new transparent system of post-licensing monitoring.

For example, fire control authorities should monitor the activities of entities involved in installation of firefighting equipment, but in practice such a system does not exist.

The importance of establishing an automated risk analysis and remote control system for all types of activities subject to licensing was emphasized.

It is required to introduce a system of public control for preventing corruption and various abuses in the sphere, the President noted.

Responsible persons reported on the work being carried out in the indicated areas, as well as provided information by industry on the types of licenses and permits that should be revoked.