Public audit left hanging in the air

Public audit hangs in the air

Uzbekistan has implemented projects worth $7 billion out of commercial agreements with the US totaling $35 billion, Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov said in an interview with The Washington Times.

According to the minister, this represents the fulfillment of approximately one-fifth of the agreements reached between the two countries last year. "We agreed on a portfolio of projects worth $35 billion. And out of this $35 billion, we have already implemented and completed projects worth $7 billion," Kudratov said. At the same time, no independent public audit of the $7 billion sum claimed by Uzbekistan has been conducted. He noted that, in his assessment, the results in the investment sphere and economic growth are linked to the system created under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Kudratov linked the implementation of investment projects to the reforms carried out in Uzbekistan since 2017. Among them, he named the unification of the official and black-market exchange rates of the soum, as well as the simplification of business registration and customs clearance procedures for foreign companies. In particular, in July, the President of Uzbekistan signed a law on the creation of the Tashkent International Financial Centre. As Kudratov stated, the new institution is intended to provide a "predictable environment" for international investors familiar with Western financial and government systems.

According to the National Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, by September there were more than 21,000 enterprises with foreign capital in the country. About 78% of them were fully owned by foreign proprietors. For comparison, in 2017 there were just over 4,000 such enterprises.

Kudratov also reported that trade turnover between Uzbekistan and the US exceeded $1 billion for the first time last year.

Special attention in relations between the two countries is paid to critical minerals. In February, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov signed a memorandum of understanding in this area with the American side, and also registered a framework agreement on joint investments with the US International Development Finance Corporation. These documents are political in nature and do not involve links to specific deposits or financial obligations of the parties.

At the same time, the creation of modern mining and processing enterprises requires significant time. In this regard, supplies of processed critical minerals from Uzbekistan to US strategic stockpiles may only begin in the next decade.

In The Washington Times article, the development of cooperation in the field of critical minerals is viewed against the backdrop of the confrontation between the US and China for access to resources and the tightening of export controls by Beijing.