Doing Business 2018 is the 15th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
... See More + This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Uzbekistan. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulation and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies; for 2018 Uzbekistan ranks 74. Doing Business measures aspects of regulation affecting 11 areas of the life of a business. Ten of these areas are included in this year's ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation, which is not included in this year's ranking. Data in Doing Business 2018 are current as of June 1, 2017. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms of business regulation have worked, where, and why.
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Uzbekistan is a lower middle-income country located in Central Asia with a population of 30 million people and an economy that has been growing by over 8 percent per annum since the mid-2000s.
... See More + The composition of the workforce has also changed dramatically in recent years. The higher education system is characterized by low access and concerns about the quality and relevance of the skills of its graduates. A recent regional skills study concluded that Uzbekistan is experiencing a substantial shortage of university graduates. The internal management of the higher education system is fragmented, with different actors having overlapping responsibilities, thereby making it difficult to ensure system-wide accountability. In order to enable the Uzbek higher education system to serve the economy and student population well, the quality assurance system should be compliant with global best practices while remaining locally relevant. While reported overall state budget spending on education, at around 8 percent of GDP, is one of the highest in the world, the share of this spending on tertiary education, at around 0.4 percent of GDP, is one the lowest. In summary, Uzbekistan’s higher education system needs to modernize to better adapt to needs of the country’s economy. The report, having analyzed the sector in detail, proposes measures to modernize the higher education sector in Uzbekistan.
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Due to the strong economic growth maintained in the last 15 years, Uzbekistan made progress in reducing gender inequality. At the same time, several demographic and structural challenges remain; and effectively engaging women in the economy is one of them.
... See More + While modernizing various sectors of the economy will foster progress and development, it may also result in setbacks for women, as they lack the skills and education needed to successfully adjust to a changing reality. While women constitute around 50 percent of the national population, their participation in the formal labor market is limited. Active women’s participation offers a reserved potential for further national economic growth and improved livelihoods for women in Uzbekistan. The link between women’s productive participation in the country’s economy and improved economic indicators is well documented across the world. Hence, to maintain strong economic growth, it is in Uzbekistan’s national interest to improve women’s participation in the formal economy. Not only can significant economic benefits be realized by mobilizing such latent productive potential, but it can be achieved in parallel with improving women’s capacity to make decisions about their own lives and act on them. The objective of this study is to examine how gender influences opportunities and risks in accessing livelihoods in Uzbekistan. It seeks to identify the constraints to, and opportunities for, increased socioeconomic resilience among rural women in Uzbekistan, and it has the potential to inform livelihoods programming. The study focuses on women in rural areas, as they represent a large portion of productive members of Uzbek society who are insufficiently integrated into the formal labor market. The study adopts a capability approach6 to understand the distinct aspirations, opportunities, and barriers for rural women in income-generating activities. It focuses on supply-side challenges faced by women and enablers of women’s work (e.g., low labor demand and lack of formal employment opportunities). The study is centered on the premise that a gender-inclusive approach should be an integral goal of livelihood support in Uzbekistan.
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Due to the strong economic growth maintained in the last 15 years, Uzbekistan made progress in reducing gender inequality. At the same time, several demographic and structural challenges remain; and effectively engaging women in the economy is one of them.
... See More + While modernizing various sectors of the economy will foster progress and development, it may also result in setbacks for women, as they lack the skills and education needed to successfully adjust to a changing reality. While women constitute around 50 percent of the national population, their participation in the formal labor market is limited. Active women’s participation offers a reserved potential for further national economic growth and improved livelihoods for women in Uzbekistan. The link between women’s productive participation in the country’s economy and improved economic indicators is well documented across the world. Hence, to maintain strong economic growth, it is in Uzbekistan’s national interest to improve women’s participation in the formal economy. Not only can significant economic benefits be realized by mobilizing such latent productive potential, but it can be achieved in parallel with improving women’s capacity to make decisions about their own lives and act on them. The objective of this study is to examine how gender influences opportunities and risks in accessing livelihoods in Uzbekistan. It seeks to identify the constraints to, and opportunities for, increased socioeconomic resilience among rural women in Uzbekistan, and it has the potential to inform livelihoods programming. The study focuses on women in rural areas, as they represent a large portion of productive members of Uzbek society who are insufficiently integrated into the formal labor market. The study adopts a capability approach6 to understand the distinct aspirations, opportunities, and barriers for rural women in income-generating activities. It focuses on supply-side challenges faced by women and enablers of women’s work (e.g., low labor demand and lack of formal employment opportunities). The study is centered on the premise that a gender-inclusive approach should be an integral goal of livelihood support in Uzbekistan.
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This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Uzbekistan. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator.
... See More + Doing Business 2017 is the 14th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2016 Uzbekistan ranks 87. Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation. Doing Business 2017 presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2016 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January–December 2015).
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Agriculture in Uzbekistan is almost entirely dependent on irrigation. However, despite reforms to institutional arrangements, much of Uzbekistan’s irrigation is reportedly caught in a vicious cycle of inadequate operation and maintenance, low cost recovery, and agricultural productivity that is often moderate or low; in addition, many farmers earn low incomes (World Bank, 2013).Few incentives exist to save water because farmers do not see the direct cost of water provision.This study was undertaken with the aim of contributing to better irrigation water management in Central Asia, beginning in Uzbekistan.
... See More + It identifies factors and conditions that positively affect the performance of local irrigation water management institutions. The analytical framework for this assessment is formed by the eight design principles for the management of common-pool resources developed by Ostrom (1990). These design principles are in essence factors that are associated with successful collective action in governing common-pool resources such as irrigation water, forests, and fishing areas. By determining why these principles are met in some cases and not in others, and what factors are behind this variation, the author can identify measures that promote these factors/conditions in irrigation schemes. This study was undertaken with the aim of contributing to better irrigation water management in Central Asia, beginning in Uzbekistan. It identifies factors and conditions that positively affect the performance of local irrigation water–management institutions. The study also prepared an associated diagnostic tool that will help design measures and program interventions to strengthen these institutions in ongoing or future irrigation operations. Lastly, the work intends to contribute to an exchange of good practices and knowledge sharing among relevant stakeholders across the Central Asia region.
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This study was undertaken by the World Bank to inform the potential areas and means ofassistance to the Government of Uzbekistan in scaling up energy efficiency (EE) investmentsin residential, commercial, and public buildings, focusing on energy use and efficiency inspace heating.
... See More + Considering the ongoing World Bank assistance in modernizing districtheating services in selected cities in Uzbekistan, this study is explicitly concerned withresidential, commercial, and public buildings that are not served by district heating. The main objective of the study was to identify scalable EE interventions that could be deployed in the next 3 to 5 years. Three specific areas were investigated: (a) a market assessment for upgrading space heating and water heating equipment in detached homes and commercial buildings; (b) an analysis of the issues and options for scaling up investmentin thermal retro fit of public buildings; and (c) a gap analysis on the compliance enforcementof building EE standards in newly constructed housing. The study did not look into thermalretrofit of existing residential buildings, which holds significant energy-saving potential, butalso is among the most complex and challenging of EE interventions. A separate in-depthanalysis would be required to adequately address the issues involved. The three areas of investigation are broadly consistent with the priorities for improving EE in buildings stated in Presidential Decree No. PP-2343: Program of Measures to Increase Energy Efficiency and Introduce Energy-Saving Technologies in the Sectors of Economy andSocial Sphere during 2015–2019. In particular, the presidential decree singled out actions in (a) replacement of nonstandard and inefficient boilers for space-heating and hot watersupply in detached houses; (b) channeling of energy cost savings in state budget-funded organizations toward funding EE investments in these entities; and (c) improvement of rulesand norms for EE requirements for new buildings. The findings and recommendations of the study, summarized below, are intended to inform discussions between the Government and the World Bank on the issues and options to address the main constraints to implementing the priority actions identified in thePresidential Decree No. PP-2343. Detailed courses of action on specific EE interventions inbuildings could then be developed based on the outcomes of these discussions.
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This study was undertaken by the World Bank to inform the potential areas and means ofassistance to the Government of Uzbekistan in scaling up energy efficiency (EE) investmentsin residential, commercial, and public buildings, focusing on energy use and efficiency inspace heating.
... See More + Considering the ongoing World Bank assistance in modernizing districtheating services in selected cities in Uzbekistan, this study is explicitly concerned withresidential, commercial, and public buildings that are not served by district heating. The main objective of the study was to identify scalable EE interventions that could be deployed in the next 3 to 5 years. Three specific areas were investigated: (a) a market assessment for upgrading space heating and water heating equipment in detached homes and commercial buildings; (b) an analysis of the issues and options for scaling up investmentin thermal retro fit of public buildings; and (c) a gap analysis on the compliance enforcementof building EE standards in newly constructed housing. The study did not look into thermalretrofit of existing residential buildings, which holds significant energy-saving potential, butalso is among the most complex and challenging of EE interventions. A separate in-depthanalysis would be required to adequately address the issues involved. The three areas of investigation are broadly consistent with the priorities for improving EE in buildings stated in Presidential Decree No. PP-2343: Program of Measures to Increase Energy Efficiency and Introduce Energy-Saving Technologies in the Sectors of Economy andSocial Sphere during 2015–2019. In particular, the presidential decree singled out actions in (a) replacement of nonstandard and inefficient boilers for space-heating and hot watersupply in detached houses; (b) channeling of energy cost savings in state budget-funded organizations toward funding EE investments in these entities; and (c) improvement of rulesand norms for EE requirements for new buildings. The findings and recommendations of the study, summarized below, are intended to inform discussions between the Government and the World Bank on the issues and options to address the main constraints to implementing the priority actions identified in thePresidential Decree No. PP-2343. Detailed courses of action on specific EE interventions inbuildings could then be developed based on the outcomes of these discussions.
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Agriculture in Uzbekistan is almost entirely dependent on irrigation. However, despite reforms to institutional arrangements, much of Uzbekistan’s irrigation is reportedly caught in a vicious cycle of inadequate operation and maintenance, low cost recovery, and agricultural productivity that is often moderate or low; in addition, many farmers earn low incomes (World Bank, 2013).Few incentives exist to save water because farmers do not see the direct cost of water provision.This study was undertaken with the aim of contributing to better irrigation water management in Central Asia, beginning in Uzbekistan.
... See More + It identifies factors and conditions that positively affect the performance of local irrigation water management institutions. The analytical framework for this assessment is formed by the eight design principles for the management of common-pool resources developed by Ostrom (1990). These design principles are in essence factors that are associated with successful collective action in governing common-pool resources such as irrigation water, forests, and fishing areas. By determining why these principles are met in some cases and not in others, and what factors are behind this variation, the author can identify measures that promote these factors/conditions in irrigation schemes. This study was undertaken with the aim of contributing to better irrigation water management in Central Asia, beginning in Uzbekistan. It identifies factors and conditions that positively affect the performance of local irrigation water–management institutions. The study also prepared an associated diagnostic tool that will help design measures and program interventions to strengthen these institutions in ongoing or future irrigation operations. Lastly, the work intends to contribute to an exchange of good practices and knowledge sharing among relevant stakeholders across the Central Asia region.
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The Government of Uzbekistan (GoU) has recently adopted a policy to mechanize the cotton harvest as part of its drive to modernize the agricultural sector.
... See More + Under Uzbekistan’s state-order system it is compulsory for many farmers to grow cotton. They are contractually obligated to produce stipulated quantities that are annually set by the government, and must sell these to the GoU at a price fixed by the government. Almost all cotton in Uzbekistan is harvested by hand, even though mechanization existed during the Soviet period. An estimated 2.2–3 millio
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The Country Opinion Survey in Uzbekistan assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in gaining a better understanding of how stakeholders in Uzbekistan perceive the WBG.
... See More + It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and civil society in Uzbekistan on 1) their views regarding the general environment in Uzbekistan; 2) their overall attitudes toward the WBG in Uzbekistan; 3) overall impressions of the WBG’s effectiveness and results, knowledge work and activities, and communication and information sharing in Uzbekistan; and 4) their perceptions of the WBG’s future role in Uzbekistan.
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The Government of Uzbekistan (GoU) has recently adopted a policy to mechanize the cotton harvest as part of its drive to modernize the agricultural sector.
... See More + Under Uzbekistan’s state-order system it is compulsory for many farmers to grow cotton. They are contractually obligated to produce stipulated quantities that are annually set by the government, and must sell these to the GoU at a price fixed by the government. Almost all cotton in Uzbekistan is harvested by hand, even though mechanization existed during the Soviet period. An estimated 2.2–3 millio
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This economy profile for Doing Business 2016 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for Uzbekistan. To allow for useful comparison, the profile also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator.
... See More + Doing Business 2016 is the 13th edition in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2015 Uzbekistan ranks 87. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and over time. Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2015 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period from January to December 2014).
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This Country Data Report summarizes the data from the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project for Uzbekistan. The WGI report six aggregate governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996-2014, covering: i) voice and accountability, ii) political stability and absence of violence, terrorism, iii) government effectiveness, iv) regulatory quality, v) rule of law, and vi) control of corruption.
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Reliable evidence on the quality of current WSS service conditions is scarce and consumer experience and views and voices are not systematically collected and used for policy development.
... See More + International experience suggests that poor drinking water and sanitation services can cause households to incur high costs for dealing with this situation. However, in Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries, there is a lack of data on service quality and on such coping costs. Together with limited feedback from consumers to those that design WSS policies and programs this makes it difficult to design effective reform measures and assess their ex-ante impact on households, in particular for those at the bottom of the income distribution. This study assesses consumer experiences with current WSS services across a range of selected sites in Uzbekistan and determines consumer readiness for reform. First of all, the study analyses how surveyed consumers currently meet their drinking water and sanitation needs and what proportion of their household budget is spent on meeting their WSS needs. Second it assesses the interaction between consumers and service providers. Third it examines stakeholder views and positions on service modernization needs and assesses consumer willingness to pay for quality networked WSS services. Comparisons are made across consumers in a selection of cities, small towns and rural areas, between consumers that are connected to a networked service and those that are not, and between households in the bottom 40 percent and top 60 percent of the income distribution (as estimated through a wealth index).
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Reliable evidence on the quality of current WSS service conditions is scarce and consumer experience and views and voices are not systematically collected and used for policy development.
... See More + International experience suggests that poor drinking water and sanitation services can cause households to incur high costs for dealing with this situation. However, in Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries, there is a lack of data on service quality and on such coping costs. Together with limited feedback from consumers to those that design WSS policies and programs this makes it difficult to design effective reform measures and assess their ex-ante impact on households, in particular for those at the bottom of the income distribution. This study assesses consumer experiences with current WSS services across a range of selected sites in Uzbekistan and determines consumer readiness for reform. First of all, the study analyses how surveyed consumers currently meet their drinking water and sanitation needs and what proportion of their household budget is spent on meeting their WSS needs. Second it assesses the interaction between consumers and service providers. Third it examines stakeholder views and positions on service modernization needs and assesses consumer willingness to pay for quality networked WSS services. Comparisons are made across consumers in a selection of cities, small towns and rural areas, between consumers that are connected to a networked service and those that are not, and between households in the bottom 40 percent and top 60 percent of the income distribution (as estimated through a wealth index).
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This brief focuses on gender in Uzbekistan. The World Bank Group is committed to including a gender lens in its activities and addressing gender-specific challenges to reduce inequalities between women and men.
... See More + Europe and Central Asia's Gender at a Glance series is a new collection of data summaries that seek to present a more nuanced view of the heterogeneous gender situation in each of the region's 30 countries. The main objective of the briefs is to provide a quick reference guide for interested users and to increase the visibility of gender-relevant data in the region. The briefs offer basic data on gender indicators and key outcomes for each country alongside regional, sub-regional, and income-level comparative benchmarks. Each brief tells a story about the relationship between gender and national outcomes in endowments (education, health, and demographics), access to economic opportunity, and agency.
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Uzbekistan's population and economy are exposed to earthquakes and floods, with earthquakes posing the greater risk of a high impact, lower probability event.
... See More + The model results for present-day risk shown in this risk profile are based on population and gross domestic product (GDP) estimates for 2015. The estimated damage caused by historical events is inflated to 2015 United States (U.S.) dollars.
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Why produce a policy note on horticulture in Uzbekistan? There are several answers to this existential question, although they are not necessarily obvious ones.
... See More + Agriculture, taken as a whole, constitutes a small and declining share of Uzbekistans national income, and horticulture is a small share of agricultural income. Even so, it is an important source of income for the 4.7 million households that operate dehkan farms in rural and disproportionally poor communities. Horticultural products are grown on an additional 21 thousand larger private farms as well. Evidence in this note suggests that growing fruit and vegetables is among the most profitable activities on both dehkan and private farms and, over the last ten years, the incomes those activities generate comprised a growing share of national GDP. Horticultural export earnings have also surged in recent years, growing from USD 373 million in 2006 to USD 1.16 billion in 2010. Uzbekistan has special agro-ecological conditions that set it apart from most countries and provides the basis for its horticulture subsector. Like agriculture as a whole, the subsector benefits greatly from policies that support basic research in agronomy and post-harvest technologies, from policies that support private investment and efficient markets, and from policies that promote the good stewardship of natural resources. The policy note is centered on the horticultural subsector. However, because an effort is made to draw comparisons between the policy environment that prevails for dehkan farmers and private farmers growing horticultural crops and that which is relevant for private farmers growing wheat and cotton, the note touches on many sector-wide issues. Still, it is important to emphasize that this policy note should not be viewed as a general review of agricultural policies. Finding ways to adapt policy lessons from horticulture to improve agricultural productivity as a whole is a more ambitious task and one that requires broader analysis and discussion.
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This economy profile for Doing Business 2015 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for Uzbekistan. To allow for useful comparison, the profile also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator.
... See More + Doing Business 2015 is the 12th edition in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2015 Uzbekistan ranks 141. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and over time. Doing Business measures regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business known as indicators. Ten of these areas are included in this year's ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures labor market regulation, which is not included in this year's ranking. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2014 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period from January to December 2013).
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