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On March 7, American Chamber of Commerce in Uzbekistan held the first Working Lunch for Voting Members with USG Officials.

The event featured USG team:

▶HE Ambassador Jonathan Henick – outlined results of the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken early March followed by C5+1 dialogue in Astana and talked about priorities of Uzbek-US Bi-lateral relations

▶Craig Phildius, Regional Export Specialist, U.S. Department of Commerce spoke about U.S. Export Controls and Sanctions Regulation. Check U.S. Government Resources for sanctions and other useful information

https://lnkd.in/dAz4gNEb

▶Robert Romanowski, US Consular Chief – spoke about Expedited US Visa Program for AmCham Voting members. Check https://lnkd.in/dpJ3Mx4W

▶Robert Sommerville, Regional Security Officer – delivered remarks on “Security concerns for American-affiliated organizations”.

The event was a huge success with 100% attendance of 50 Voting Members of AmCham!

On February 2, 2023, American Chamber of Commerce in Uzbekistan organized a discussion panel on Uzbekistan’s Economic Outlook 2023.

✔️During the event, more than 50 members of the Chamber, representatives of the private sector and international organizations had the opportunity to learn about key changes, forecasts for economic factors and trends in Uzbekistan for 2023.

🗣The panel was moderated by Hugo Minderhoud, Senior Advisor to AmCham Uzbekistan and featured by esteemed economists of IFIs:
▶️ Kevin Ross, Resident Representative, International Monetary Fund
▶️ Eric Livny, Regional Lead Economist, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
▶️ Begzod M. Djalilov, Senior Economics Officer, Asian Development Bank
▶️ Pınar Yaşar, Senior Country Economist, The World Bank

On January 26th, AmCham Uzbekistan jointly with AmCham Russia held Online Seminar on “Doing Business in Uzbekistan”.

▶️More than 80 participants from both chambers joined the conference.

We express our gratitude to the speakers of the event:
– Ulugbek Kasimkhodjaev, Director, Investmemt Promotion Agency
– Jamshid Juraev, Tax and Legal Services Leader, PwC
– Denis Sokolov, FRICS Partners, General Director, CMWP Uzbekistan

Participants learned why to invest in Uzbekistan in 3D Format
1- Uzbek government
2- Consultant that have worked in Uzbekistan for 30 years and
3 New-comer to the market sharing own experience.

On October 17^th, AmCham Uzbekistan held the first CSR Awards Ceremony!

The goal of the CSR Award is to raise awareness on CSR projects implemented by our member companies and to highlight the impact they are having on all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental.

AmCham Uzbekistan has awarded 15 CSR projects in the environment, women empowerment, care, education, and social innovation categories, among which 5 were implemented as part of the activities of the AmCham CSR Committee.

Among the award winners were:

• Hyatt Regency Tashkent for “The First Charity Ball” in Caring category  
• Tashkent International Clinic for “Green Tashkent” project in Environment category
• The British School of Tashkent for “Green Tashkent” project in Environment category
• Artel Electronics LLC for “Jizzakh Water” project in Environment category
• Silverleafe for “First Female Football Game” in Women Empowerment category
• Agrico NL for “Supporting Women in Agriculture” in Women Empowerment category
• PwC for “Supporitng SABR Women in the regions” in Women Empowerment category
• Coca-Cola for “Coozin” project in Social Innovations category
• TBC Uzbekistan for “TBC Ornaments” project in Social Innovations category
• Korzinka for “Artificial reality books” project in Education category
• British American Tobacco Uzbekistan for “Child labor prevention Summer Camp” in Education category
• Oriflame for “Home Delivery for people with hearing disabilities” project in Caring category
• P&G  for “School  Education program for Reproductive Health” project in Education category
• Orient Group for “Eco Park” in Social Innovation category  
• Pro Logistics LLC for “2021 Motivation Calendar” in Caring Category

Nodira Yadgarova, Chairperson of AmCham CSR Committee mentioned the importance of CSR activities and encourage our members to join AmCham CSR committee “to unite forces and help those in need, play a positive role in the community and consider the environmental and social impact of business decisions”.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 27 September 2022 – The United Nations in Uzbekistan in close cooperation with the United Nations Global Compact and the founding members of the UN’s Coalition of Business Champions for Sustainable Development, namely “Korzinka” supermarkets chain, Silverleafe, and Artel Electronics, held a Forum on “Championing Business Sustainability in Uzbekistan” (introduction of the values of sustainable development and environmental, social and corporate governance in business).  The American Chamber of Commerce in Uzbekistan was information partner of the event.

The forum with the participation of representatives of more than 70 companies became the first platform in Uzbekistan to discuss environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and integrating the principles of UN sustainable development into the private sector.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan, Ms. Roli Asthana, stressed the crucial role of the private sector in achieving national and global sustainable development goals by moving to and promoting sustainable business practices.

– In recent years, Uzbekistan has been taking progressive steps towards a more sustainable future. We can see it from the government’s actions, and it is very commendable. At the same time, I want to stress that sustainable development cannot be achieved only through cooperation with the government as the private sector is also an integral part of inclusive and sustainable growth. As the UN Secretary-General once mentioned, “there is no single global goal where private sector effort is not in demand,” said Ms. Roli Asthana.

In a video message to the forum participants Ms. Sanda Ojiambo, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.

 “Our 10 principles that cover human rights, decent labor, environment and anti-corruption, provide a framework for business growth that benefits both companies and communities, all while addressing global challenges. Today, more than 16 000 companies and 3 000 non-business signatories have made a commitment to adopt sustainable, responsible business policies and practices aligned with the UN Global Compact. Through these active commitments, they are also supporting the success of 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Now more than ever, we need you to join forces.

 We are broadening our direct geographical coverage and establishing new local and multi-country networks. In time and with your support, we are hoping to create a multi-country network in Central Asia starting with Uzbekistan and then Kazakhstan. UN Global Compact is here to work with you, side by side, uniting business for a better world,” said Sanda Ojiambo in her speech.

Further, representatives of the state, the private sector, international organizations, as well as experts from the UN Global Compact offices in Turkey, Georgia, Switzerland and Liechtenstein took part in the discussions.

The participants of the event got acquainted with the experience and ideas of the representatives of the first participants of the UN Global Compact in Uzbekistan: Mr. Zafar Khashimov, founder and chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Korzinka supermarket chain; Mr. Bektemir Murodov, Chief Financial Officer of Artel Electronics, and Mr. Dan Patterson, CEO of Silverleafe.  The companies represented are also founding members of the UN’s Coalition of Business Champions for Sustainable Development. By becoming parties to the UN Global Compact, they committed themselves to promoting the ten principles of the UN Global Compact related to labour, human rights and the environment.

“We are very proud to be supporting the conversation around sustainable development in Uzbekistan alongside Korzinka, Silverleafe, and the UN.

We are just at the beginning of our journey. However, we are working everyday alongside partners to improve our ESG position and implement meaningful changes for the sustainable future of our company and Uzbekistan.” said Bektemir Murodov – Chief Financial Officer of Artel Electronics.

The panel discussions examined sustainable practices in the field of human rights and working conditions, the environment and business modernization. 

During his speech, Zafar Khashimov, Founder and Chairman of Supervisory Board, “Korzinka” supermarket chain, highlighted the importance of a sustainable and long-term approach to decision-making: “We started our business activity by establishing modern, organized retail chain in Uzbekistan, and transition from short term goals to long term sustainable goals gives a lot of challenges for companies. But overall, it proved that long-term strategies are much more profitable and economically effective. “Korzinka” is spending so much effort and energy on this and I find it very good economic investment. The practices developed at our company helped us so much accessing funds from EBRD and ADB. I would like to say to any company which is headed to growth and succeed, that ESG and introducing sustainable standards is not a tax, this is investment and it should be treated like that.”

 Tatyana Bystrushkina, Executive Director of the Association of International Businesses, AmCham Uzbekistan, also supported the opinions of the forum participants: “Business is pragmatic. Every dollar invested should bring a return.  As private sector representatives mentioned today, ESG is an investment.  UN Global Compact has an utmost role in educating business, share the knowledge and best practices, and encouraging business to pursuit ESG as an investment that will pay off in the near future.”

Summarizing the discussions, Rusyan Jill Mamiit, Development Cooperation Officer for Partnerships and Development Finance, United Nations Office in Uzbekistan, said: ” In today’s panel, we heard businesses through the voices of Artel, Korzinka, and Silverleafe reaffirm their commitment to sustainable development. We also heard from the United Nations its willingness to work shoulder to shoulder with the private sector to accelerate sustainability principles. While today’s event is ending, this is for many of us just the beginning of a joint journey where dedication, patience, and tenacity are much-needed as the returns on sustainability investment takes time to unfold. Let us all keep the tenacity, the patience, and the dedication!“

Growing expectations from customers, employees and investors for business are putting pressure on companies around the world. This has only been facilitated by the recent global pandemic. Business in Uzbekistan is also expected to begin to contribute to the development of a more sustainable and just world.

On June 13^th, AmCham Uzbekistan organized Monthly Meeting featuring Roli Asthana, UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan, who spoke about “Reinvigorating UN-Private Sector Engagement in Delivering the Sustainable Development Agenda in Uzbekistan”, explaining how private sector can engage with the UN.

There are three ways for businesses to partner with the UN in Uzbekistan through the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework:

1. Become an SDG Champion through participation in the Coalition of Business Champions for Sustainable Development in Uzbekistan. To make engagement as inclusive as possible, the UN in Uzbekistan has simplified the process to become a champion. A one-page letter from the organization CEO/President/Director addressed to the Resident Coordinator expressing interest to champion one or two SDGs and identifying an area of potential engagement is required along with the completion of an online form where the letter will be attached. This activity does not require a membership fee; however, it requires that organizations’ commitment to partner with the UN in an activity of mutual interest that support a particular SDG. As a partnership that should be mutually beneficial, the UN is willing and ready to provide a local and even global platform for the Champions to amplify and promote their organizational engagement through the social media platform as well as through the periodic publications that has a global audience.
2. Join the UN Global Compact and support the development of a local and/or regional network. The UN Global Compact  includes 16,000+ businesses in 160+ countries employing more than 87 million people that committed to the key principles of sustainability. The participation in the UN Global Compact is based on membership and depending on the revenue of the organization, a membership fee may be assessed. As a result, the company will get the opportunity to participate in global events as well as in the UN Global Compact Academy.

3. Engage with the UN at the agency-level. 

To get more information on the partnership with the UN in Uzbekistan, please contact Rusyan Jill Mamiit, Development Coordinator Officer for Partnerships and Development Finance: mamiit@un.org

On March 3, American Chamber of Commerce in Uzbekistan was pleased to organize Monthly Meeting hosted by Eldor Tulyakov, Executive Director of the Development Strategy Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan, who presented recently adopted “Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026”.

The event began with welcoming remarks by Vera Bell, Vice President of AmCham Uzbekistan, who introduced the speaker of the event and noted the importance of knowing the direction of development of Uzbekistan for both private sector representatives and diplomatic corps.

The main part was featured by Eldor Tulyakov, who started with an overview of the strategy. He mentioned that the Strategy aims to achieve 100 goals within the 7 priority areas:

1. To build a people’s state by elevating human dignity and the furtherance of civil society, including the transfer of 20% of public services to the private sector, Increasing the public funds’ funding sevenfold under the Kengashes of People’s’ Deputies, which support non-governmental, non-profit organizations
2. To establish the principles of justice and the rule of law as the most fundamental and critical conditions for development which will be focused on insurance of transparency in judiciary
3. To develop robust national economy that ensures rapid growth
4. To pursue just and fair public policies and human capital development by focusing on improving the quality of education in schools, public healthcare system and strengthening social protection, supporting women and their active participation in society
5. To ensure the elevation of spiritual values by popularization of reading, supporting national cultural centers, developing local arts, history, culture and cinematography
6. To approach global challenges through the lens of our national interests by protecting the ecological and environmental integrity, combating extremism and terrorism, instill zero-tolerance attitude to corruption in society.
7. To strengthen the security and defense potential of our country, pursuing an open, pragmatic, and active foreign policy by Improve the legal framework for economic, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation with South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and with solid economies in the CIS and the Americas

At the end of the presentation, Tatyana Bystrushkina, Executive Director of AmCham Uzbekistan, held Q&A session, where participants got a chance to discuss important issues regarding the strategy and the ways of implementing them directly with the speaker.

AmCham Uzbekistan Monthly Meetings is a high-level policy dialogue between private sector and government of Uzbekistan, IFI’s and diplomatic corps that enables direct access to high level officials. Become an AmCham member to participate in our events!

On February 3, 2022, American Chamber of Commerce in Uzbekistan organized an Online Monthly Meeting with a special guest – Mikaela Meredith, first Mission Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Uzbekistan and her team Iulia Sandu, first PSE Coordinator, Scott Hedlund, Economic Growth Office Director, Bahtiyor Mirzabaev, Project Management Specialist and Melissa Scherer, PRO Office Director who spoke about “USAID – Private Sector Partnering for Greater Impact”.
It was mentioned that USAID is an independent government agency, whose purpose is to administer civilian foreign aid and development assistance, which assists more than 130 countries. Since 1993, USAID has invested $536 million in Uzbekistan, including $24 million that was allocated to Uzbekistan’s development assistance programs last year to the areas of:
• public education
• public health
• democracy governance
• economic growth

The meeting was focused on USAID priorities that could attract the attention of private sector companies:

• Private Sector Engagement is a top priority for USAID Uzbekistan.
• USAID is working on finalizing the development of the first bilateral strategy for Uzbekistan 2022-2025, with Private sector engagement as priority and cross cutting theme
• Creating and strengthening relationships with key stakeholders including AmCham members
• Establishment and support to the Private Sector Judicial Reform Advisory Council, composed of members of business community representatives of Uzbekistan, with AmCham as a primary interlocutor.
• Opportunities for co-investment in the sectors of:
– Agro- business
– Women empowerment
– Market development fund
At the end of the session, Executive Director of AmCham Uzbekistan Tatyana Bystrushkina held a Q&A session where guests asked questions to the speakers.
AmCham Uzbekistan Monthly Meetings is a high-level policy dialogue between private sector and government of Uzbekistan, IFI’s and diplomatic corps that enables direct access to high level officials

On October 14, AmCham organized the Monthly Meeting with a special guest – newly arrived US Embassy Consular Chief Robert Romanowski to talk about the US visa obtaining process and US Consular Section at the US Embassy in Tashkent.
“All visa categories are open now”, pointed out Mr. Romanowski.
Also, AmCham is reviving the tradition of a New member presentation on Monthly Meetings for the members to easily get acquainted with the AmCham community. Following the discussion, Artel Electronics, a recently joined Platinum member, was given the floor to speak about the company activity and latest achievements.
“We are widening our export horizons even to African countries”, shared Chief Financial Officer of Artel, Bektemir Murodov.