The owner of Korzinka grocery supermarket chain and investor Zafar Khashimov commented on the first Tashkent International Investment Forum and spoke about how Uzbekistan should not miss the unique economic opportunity.

He expressed confidence that during the organization of the investment Forum, no one could even imagine how much the world would change right on the eve of its holding and how relevant the event would become. According to him, this explains the special and heightened interest to the work of the Forum by financial institutions and businesses around the world and its importance in general.

“The attendance of the President at the Forum, and not just for opening remarks, but as a full-fledged speaker of the plenary session, where, together with the heads of leading regional and international financial and trade institutions, he discussed the prospects and ways of developing the country's economy, gave this event a special status and a powerful impetus,” he wrote.

Zafar Khashimov assessed this as a clear signal to the world community that Uzbekistan "resolutely and firmly stands" on the path of reforms, on the path of economic liberalization and the country's integration into international economic relations and production chains, "the country's ambition to become an equal participant in global trade and labor distribution."

In his opinion, Uzbekistan now has a unique opportunity to become a regional industrial and commercial hub.

“The sanctions imposed on Russia, the shutdown of various production units and the departure of dozens, if not hundreds of large investment and industrial groups and transnational corporations, creates a kind of financial and industrial vacuum not only in Russia itself, but throughout the entire subcontinent,” he said.

He clarified that due to the size and resource potential, many large corporations and institutions considered Russia as an outpost and production base for further expansion and distribution of products throughout the CIS. But recent tragic events completely change this state of affairs.

“Say if the war in Ukraine stops overnight and Western countries quickly decide to lift all previously announced sanctions, international business, which has suffered huge losses, disruptions and losses in Russia today, will not rush to return there for a long time. There will be no talk of further investment and development in Russia for decades to come. The country's risk index will remain at an unacceptable level for international business for a long time,” he explained.

Zafar Khashimov spoke about what to do with the Central Asian region and its market, which "for so long, in the economic sense, was more or less economically reassigned to the Russian one."

“The market of this subcontinent, if considered as a whole, with adjacent territories (Afghanistan, northern Iran and Pakistan, etc.), has 100-150 million people. This is too big a market to be ngeglected, especially against the backdrop of the loss of the Russian market,” he said.

He is convinced that the global economy now “is of paramount importance to integrate this market into itself”, and for international manufacturers “to set up major production facilities here and establish supply chains” to meet local needs in the region.

“And Uzbekistan, with its 35 million population, is at the very center of this market both geographically and demographically. Our country has a stable political system and a developing economy. But all this, unfortunately, is not enough. We have not yet managed to erase decades of isolationism, protectionism, political authoritarianism, repression, corruption and lawlessness from memory,” Zafar Khashimov said.

The founder of Korzinka believes that the reforms launched five years ago have significantly improved the image of the country and re-opened it to the world, removed Uzbekistan from the list of countries that use all forms of child and forced labor.

In addition, thanks to a fundamental change in the attitude of the state to business, the class of entrepreneurs is rapidly growing in the country. The entrepreneur also noted the liberalization of the foreign exchange market, tax reform, the reduction and abolition of customs duties on a number of goods, the removal of restrictions on registration, a visa-free regime with 90 countries, more reliable and transparent economic statistics and freedom of the press, which "continues to assert itself."

“When considering our bid, the non-participation of Uzbekistan in the EAEU, where Russia, again, has a dominant influence, as well as our neutral status and non-participation in military blocs, all this creates great advantages for us in the region. But, again, the stakes are is very high, and the future of the country, economic and social, is at stake, and we must not miss on this chance again, as it was in the early 90s, ”he said.

Zafar Khashimov stressed that Uzbekistan at this time needs to "strengthen" wave the flag "and" shout "that we are here and we are ready to accept them."

He put forward a number of his proposals:

• declare loud and wide and take decisive steps towards further liberalization of the domestic market and foreign trade;
• decisively reduce, if not to say, cancel the majority of tariff (duties, excises) and non-tariff restrictions on trade, simplify certification, recognize international certificates in Uzbekistan, etc.;
• to request from the WTO an urgent consideration of the application for Uzbekistan's accession into the organization;
• expedite privatization processes, conduct them transparently and openly;
• expedite banking sector reforms;
• actively launch administrative reform;
• demonopolize, and where it is possible to privatize transport and logistics networks, including air and rail transport;
• abolish existing sectoral and individual benefits;
• create a special legal territory in the country, in which, for example, English law will operate, with its own judicial bodies. International companies will register and conduct their transactions there, taking into account their convenience of working in a familiar legal environment.

“The list goes on and on. Everything must be done to swiftly become the number one candidate in this race in a short time,” he said.

Zafar Khashimov noted that the blocking of Twitter in Uzbekistan during the forum caused "a dozen bewildered statements from major foreign partners" who complained that they could not tell the world about Uzbekistan and about the forum.

“Most importantly, we cannot now allow the “sellers of risks and threats” to intimidate us again and drive us into the past. To protect the interests of a handful of monopolies, future development must not be sacrificed again. Integration into the world economy, attraction of investments and technologies and a decisive breakthrough of the country into the 21st century has never been as real and achievable as it is now,” the entrepreneur believes.

He pointed out that Turkey had already joined this race, an which had declared its readiness to host all enterprises leaving Russia. According to him, a discussion on this topic has also begun and is intensifying in Kazakhstan.

“The openness and readiness of the country, its commitment to the values ​​of a market economy and the rule of law will play a decisive role in this race. We also have undeniable advantages and a real chance in it, it is important not to miss it, ”he concluded.