An agency for the development of public-private partnership (PPP) is to be launched as part of Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Economy, Uzbek media reported referring to the draft presidential decree.
The reason for the launch of the new structure is a huge number of problems that hampers the development of public-private partnership.
Nowadays, for example, there is a state monopoly on provision of services in the social sphere, town-planning, which leads to inefficient use of budgetary funds, poor-quality provision of services to individuals and legal entities in the country.
In addition, there is no legal framework that defines the basis for PPP development in Uzbekistan, clearly differentiating the main tasks and functions of partners in this area. Investment projects are ineffectively implemented due to the lack of participation by private partners.
There is an insufficient number of specialists with experience and knowledge in the preparation of PPP projects in the country, as a result of which the beginning of their implementation is being delayed.
There is also no special body that ensures interaction between the state and business in the implementation of PPP projects and their system monitoring. There is no evaluation of the effectiveness of PPP projects taking into account the specifics of the national economy, possible risks, methods and forms of their management.
It is planned that the PPP development agency will deal with all these tasks.
The document states that by the end of September, a unified PPP information portal will appear in the country providing:
– access to detailed information in Uzbek, Russian and other foreign languages on current tenders, ongoing projects and services provided;
– interactive provision of the agency’s services to investors, including foreign ones, receipt of application forms and other necessary documents;
– an opportunity to get acquainted with the database of projects being implemented, as well as with the results of the tender for public-private partnership projects;
– the possibility of direct appeal of potential investors and participants of PPP to the agency.
