ADB Approves A $100 Million Loan To Support Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises In Uzbekistan
Date
12/6/2023 3:12:43 PM
(MENAFN- AzerNews) The Asian Development bank (ADB) has approved a $100 million
policy-based loan to support small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) in Uzbekistan and spur economic growth in the country, Azernews reports, citing Kun News Agency.
ADB's Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Development Program
will help strengthen the operating environment for SMEs to drive
private sector development-led economic growth and also increase
their resilience to future economic shocks like the one triggered
by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the second subprogram under the
program, and it builds on the policy, regulatory, and institutional
reforms implemented by the government under the first
subprogram.
“The program enables systematic reforms assisted under ADB's
continuing support for SMEs in Uzbekistan,” said ADB Director
General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov.“As the country
continues implementation of key structural reforms to transition
from a state-owned economy to a market economy with a prudent
overall macroeconomic stance, SMEs will play a significant role in
accelerating diversified economic growth, productivity, and
value-added formal employment.”
ADB's program will support the Government of Uzbekistan in
comprehensively addressing the key challenges faced by SMEs in
accessing finance. These challenges stem from the limited access to
more diverse forms of finance necessary for different stages of
their development in a bank-dominated financial sector with
high-interest rates and high collateral requirements. The program
will help simplify regulatory and administrative burdens that add
to the cost of doing business and disproportionately impact women's
businesses. It will help improve SMEs' trade competitiveness
through the diversification of export products and markets and
digitalization-enabled higher productivity. It will also support
market-based skills development, especially for women and youth to
increase their employability.
“Measures implemented under the program will incentivize the
growth and formalization of SMEs and in turn contribute to
expanding the tax base and domestic resource mobilization,” said
ADB Principal Private Sector Development Specialist Priyanka
Sood.
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