Batken / 27 October 2023 – The II meeting of the Business and Investment Development Council under the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic in Batken province was held. It was attended by Deputy Representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic in Batken province Timur Madyarov, First Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade of the Kyrgyz Republic Choro Seyitov, Deputy Director of the National Investment Agency under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Zhalyn Zheenaliev, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic Mail Aliyaskarov, as well as representatives of the business community, State Tax Service and representatives of local authorities.

The key topic of discussion was the role of investment and public-private dialogue in regional development, as well as the current problems of entrepreneurs in Batken province. Local entrepreneurs and interested investors were given the opportunity to discuss common challenges with relevant government partners, as well as offer their vision and solutions.

“At the previous Council meeting, there were six key issues raised, which mainly related to the challenges faced by entrepreneurs. Among them simplification of payment for an insurance policy, the use of simplified tariffs for the social fund, promoting the activities of local travel companies, land issues, etc., which have now been resolved positively. For example, the State Tax Service has reduced patent rates for rental real estate in Batken province from 50 KGS to 20 KGS per 1 m². In addition, the leadership of some village aimaks were tasked with resolving existing land issues with entrepreneurs and investors, which were also resolved,” said Deputy Representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic in Batken province and Chairman of the Council Timur Madyarov. 

“This work is directly related to the efforts of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic to develop the export potential of the region. In addition, the results of an analysis carried out by the UN Development Program showed that Batken province that is leading in the effective implementation of migrant funds in socio-economic business projects that are significant for local communities. We want to better study and test such successful mechanisms of interaction with migrants of some local self-government bodies (LSGs) in other LSGs across the country,” said Deputy Director of the National Investment Agency under the President Zhalyn Zheenaliev.

Among the issues put forward by entrepreneurs for consideration by government bodies were the opening of Entrepreneur Service Centers, reducing the threshold amount of investment under government guarantees from $1 million to $500 thousand, there were proposals for financing the cultivation of grapes for wine production, the allocation of land plots, consideration of taxation issues and etc. Among the entrepreneurs who participated in the event, there was a lot of positive feedback about the focused and effective work of the Council. 

“Over the past eight years, several similar working groups have been created, however, they often remained on a paper. This Council was created with the aim of providing the opportunity for constant dialogue and effective interaction between state authorities and the local community of enterpreneurs to improve the business environment and investment climate. A distinctive feature of meetings within the Council is that specific issues are raised, and specific solutions are proposed. We are interested in improving the mechanisms of legal protection of entrepreneurs by combining the efforts of all interested parties,” explained Elvira Borombaeva, Advisor to the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic in Batken province. 

The Business and Investment Development Council was initiated by the plenipotentiary representation of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic in Batken province in close cooperation with the United Nations Development Program.

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For additional information on the activities of the Business and Investment Development Council in Batken province - Nurzhan Shabieva, Secretary of the Council, 0998–878760 

For media inquiries: Ainagul Abdrakhmanova, UNDP communications officer ainagul.abdrakhmanova@undp.org