Samarkand region aims for $3.5 billion in annual exports by 2030

Over the next five years, the region’s gross regional product is planned to increase to UZS 165 trillion, while industrial and service exports are expected to reach $3.5 billion annually. To achieve this, the goal is to implement investment projects in the region worth a total of $6.8 billion.

A new company, Samarkand Invest, will be established under the regional administration. It will act as a “bridge” between the state and the private sector to implement investment projects and develop infrastructure.

The main tasks of Samarkand Invest will include:

• analysing the state of municipal property in the region and drafting proposals for its effective use;

• managing municipal assets transferred to the company, leasing them out, and organising public–private partnerships;

• increasing the investment appeal of municipal property;

• modernising markets, shopping complexes, and other facilities under the company’s management, as well as reconstructing, selling, or leasing them;

• participating in the financing of infrastructure development projects;

• funding development and renovation programmes, as well as preparing master plans and documentation for construction projects;

• reconstructing and overhauling unsafe or deteriorated residential and non-residential buildings;

• auctioning vacant land plots for the implementation of business projects.

Starting in 2027, the company will be required to publish its financial statements, non-financial reports, and commercial and non-commercial objectives on the hokimiyat’s website. By 2028, it must obtain credit ratings from international agencies.

The Entrepreneurship Development Fund under the hokimiyat will be transformed into the Samarkand Region Development Fund. Its resources will be used to develop infrastructure and address “urgent issues in utilities and other sectors” as determined by the company.

From 1 November, part of the costs for creating utilities and transport infrastructure during the construction or reconstruction of facilities will be included in the fee for the development of the architectural and planning brief for the project. These funds will be transferred to the regional development fund.

By the end of this year, the general plan of Samarkand must be prepared in digital format and integrated with the “Shaffof qurilish” (Transparent construction) system.

Since summer 2023, Tashkent Invest has been operating under the Tashkent hokimiyat. It is responsible, in particular, for public–private partnership projects in parks, squares, boulevards, roadside areas, under bridges and overpasses, and in underground pedestrian crossings.