Chinese company to build cement plant worth $ 420 million in Samarkand; In 2019, the World Bank will allocate $ 55 million for the development of pre-school education; The Ministry of Finance publishes preliminary version of the Special Part of the Tax Code for discussion; First Inter-regional forum Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan takes place in Shymkent; Online transaction volumes increased significantly in Uzbekistan; Kazakhstan to export natural gas to other countries through Uzbekistan;
Chinese company to build cement plant worth $ 420 million in Samarkand
Construction of a cement plant began in the Kattakurgan district of the Samarkand region, in cooperation with Chinese investors. The planned production capacity is 2.4 million tons of cement per year; the cost of the project is $ 420 million.
Project implementation will consist of two stages. At the first stage in 2018–2020, a block with a production capacity of 1.2 million tons of cement per year will be constructed through investments of $ 220 million. It will provide permanent employment for 300 people.
The second phase will be implemented in 2020-2023 creating another 100 jobs. The plant will produce cement brands M-400, M-500 (white and gray) and M-600.
In 2019, the World Bank will allocate $ 55 million for the development of pre-school education
In 2019, the World Bank will allocate $ 55 million for the development of pre-school education, Head of the Bank’s representative office in Uzbekistan Hideki Mori said at the conference “The Role of Innovative Educational Environment in Ensuring the Comprehensive Development of the Child”.
“By 2021, the government plans to ensure 100% access for children aged 6–7 years to the preschool education system. This is an ambitious, but achievable goal. The World Bank is ready to share with Uzbekistan its international experience in the development of this sector and provide financial resources to support the reform of the preschool education system, ”said Hideki Mori.
He also noted that the funds allocated by the bank will be aimed at ensuring the availability of quality pre-school education for children throughout the country, as well as improving the quality of the national pre-school education system in general, including the educational environment in pre-school institutions in cities and rural areas.
The Ministry of Finance publishes preliminary version of the Special Part of the Tax Code for discussion
The Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan published for discussion a preliminary version of the Special Part of the Tax Code, prepared with the involvement of experts from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, independent international experts and experts from international auditing companies.
The draft was prepared taking into account the Concept of Improving the Tax Policy of Uzbekistan, approved by presidential decree of June 29, which envisages:
- introduction of a tax on property of legal entities, land tax and tax for the use of water resources for all business entities;
- payment by taxpayers with an annual turnover (revenue) of up to 1 billion soums, a tax with a base rate of 4% with the possibility of voluntary payment of value added tax;
- a single tax rate on personal income and the abolition of insurance contributions of citizens to the extra-budgetary Pension Fund;
- abolition of mandatory deductions to state trust funds levied on the turnover (revenue) of legal entities, etc.
The work on the General part of the Tax Code and the section on value added tax, which will be available for review until 1 December is at the final stage. The postponement of the publication of the General Part of the Tax Code is connected with the need to study the issue of taxation of related parties. It requires special attention due to the increase in the number of such transactions in conditions of liberalization of the economy of Uzbekistan and the intensification of foreign economic activity.
First Inter-regional forum Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan takes place in Shymkent
The first inter-regional Forum Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan was held in Shymkent last week. The forum was chaired by First Deputy Prime Ministers of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Askar Mamin and Achilbay Ramatov. The Forum was attended by heads of regions of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Askar Mamin noted that 2018 was successful in the practical rapprochement of the two peoples in the cultural and trade and economic areas. He underlined the symbolism of the Forum in the context of the success of the Year of Uzbekistan in Kazakhstan, stressing that “a large number of events were held this year that will serve the further development of bilateral cooperation.”
It was said that the trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in January-September 2018 made up over US$2 billion, which is more than 40% higher compared to the same period of 2017. Mamin said that by the end of 2018, the trade turnover the two countries will be US$3 billion. At the same time, by 2020, the countries intend to bring the trade turnover to US$5 billion. The most important area of cooperation between two countries should be industry, construction, transport, transit, tourism, etc.
Online transaction volumes increased significantly in Uzbekistan
According to the press service of the United Republic Center of Processing (URCP), the volume of online transactions in Uzbekistan has dramatically increased.
In the 3rd quarter, the total amount of all online transactions amounted to 1,6 trillion sums. For comparison, it was 872 billion sums in the 2nd quarter and 663,5 billion sums in the 1st quarter respectively. Thus, the increase rate amounted to 184%. At the same time, the number of transactions declined – if there was 71,4 million in the 2nd quarter, now, it is 69,8 million (down by 2,2%).
Over the past quarter, 817,000 cards were issued. It is 0,4% more compared to the 2nd quarter (813,000). Mostly, during this period, cards were issued by the People’s Bank (162,000), Agrobank (123,000) and Ipoteka-Bank (80,000). Earlier, it was reported that in the middle of September there was a malfunction in the URCP, which caused losses to the Center estimated at 27 billion sums.
Kazakhstan to export natural gas to other countries through Uzbekistan
According to the report of the press service of the Kazakh Prime Minister, Kazakhstan will transfer natural gas to other countries through Uzbekistan. This agreement was signed between JSC “KazTransGas” and JSC “Uztransgaz” at the First Uzbek-Kazakh regional forum, which was held in Shymkent.
In addition, “KTZ Express” and scientific-production center “Uzavtotranstekhnika” signed a document on the establishment of a joint venture. Currently, there are about 260 enterprises operating with the Kazakh capital in Uzbekistan.
The countries also agreed on recognition of the visa regime for states of the Great Silk Road. According to this agreement, foreign tourists visiting Kazakhstan can visit Uzbekistan freely. At the end of the forum, 16 documents were inked for joint implementation.