On 2-3 May at the III International Investment Forum in Tashkent, a panel discussion on “Privatization and state assets: New horizons for investment” was held.
The session was attended by Akmalhon Ortikov, Director of the State Asset Management Agency, and a number of international experts. In particular, Franklin Templeton's senior managing director Tek Hoan Ong, KPMG Caspian's partner and consultant Saltanat Sandybaeva, advisor to the director of UzSAMA John Nasirov, and as a moderator, Neil Mackain, Director of the International finance corporation (IFC) office in Uzbekistan.
The experts discussed the global experience of privatization of state assets as an important factor in attracting foreign investment. In addition, the participants discussed the reforms implemented in recent years in Uzbekistan to reduce state participation in the economy and expand private ownership by harmonizing legislation on privatization of state assets. They also discussed prospective plans in this area and the huge opportunities of the new privatization program for local and foreign investors.
During the discussions, Akmalhon Ortikov, Director of UzSAMA, provided information on the privatization of state property in Uzbekistan and the work carried out in this direction.
“First of all, we have focused on ensuring the rule of law. The Law on Management of State Property has been developed and enacted. We can say that this law defined market rules.
The second law, the Law on Privatization of State Property, was developed anew. The law was adopted in 1991 and was outdated. We have edited it, and it will officially come into force on May 15. This law explains every step, method, contracts and issues such as privatization. This shows investors in the international market that we are doing our work based on the law,” Akmalhon Ortikov said.
Teck Hoan Ong, senior managing director at Franklin Templeton, said: “Assets need to be sold to ordinary citizens and they should take advantage of this. Also, maximizing the value of companies is very challenging and it is very important that this process is done before and after privatization.”
In turn, KPMG Caspian's partner Saltanat Sandybayeva highlighted that special attention is paid to the pre-privatization process, which is considered an important stage of the privatization process. She noted that before the sale of assets, a strategy is developed to prepare them for privatization, and that these strategies take into account market conditions, the regulatory framework and transparency criteria, and this further strengthens investor confidence.
John Nasirov, consultant to the Director of the State Assets Agency, compared privatization processes conducted in foreign countries and noted that Uzbekistan has created all conditions for privatization processes. At the same time, the expert touched upon the processes of transformation of enterprises and noted the importance of individual approach to each enterprise.
