ENTERPRISE SURVEYS WHAT BUSINESSES EXPERIENCE Uzbekistan 2019 ENTERPRISE SURVEYS Country Profile 1 Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Firms Characteristics ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Workforce ............................................................................................................................................................ 5 Firm Performance ................................................................................................................................................ 5 Physical Infrastructure ........................................................................................................................................ 6 International Trade.............................................................................................................................................. 6 Access to Finance ................................................................................................................................................ 7 Crime and Informality ......................................................................................................................................... 8 Regulations, Permits, and Taxes ......................................................................................................................... 8 Corruption ........................................................................................................................................................... 9 Business Environment Obstacles ........................................................................................................................ 9 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................................ 11 The Country Profiles produced by the Enterprise Analysis Unit of the World Bank Group provide an overview of key business environment indicators in each economy, comparing them to their respective geographic region and group of countries with similar income levels. The same topics are covered for all countries with slight variations of indicators. All indicators are based on the responses of firms. To learn more about the Enterprise Analysis Unit and to obtain Country Profiles for other countries, please visit www.enterprisesurveys.org © 2019 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank Group 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank Group with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank Group, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank Group does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank Group concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this work is subject to copyright. Because The World Bank Group encourages dissemination of its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given. Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to World Bank Group Publications, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2625; e-mail: [email protected]. Please cite Enterprise Surveys data as follows: Enterprise Surveys www.enterprisesurveys.org The World Bank Group. The Enterprise Surveys team can be contacted at: The World Bank Group 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington DC, 20433 USA Tel. (202) 479-3800 2 Economy Overview and most services sectors: retail, wholesale, automotive repair, hotels and restaurants, transportation, storage, Uzbekistan 2019 communications, construction, and IT. Public utilities, Region: Europe & Central Asia government services, health care, and financial services Income Group: Lower Middle Income sectors are not included in the sample (Figure 1). The ES interview takes place with top managers and business Introduction owners. The ES are repeated approximately every four years for a The Enterprise Surveys (ES) focus on many aspects of the particular economy (or region). By tracking changes in the business environment. These factors can be business environment, policymakers and researchers can accommodating or constraining for firms and play an look at the effects of policy and regulatory reforms on important role in whether an economy’s private sector firm performance. Repeated surveys aid in studying the will thrive or not. An accommodating business evolution of the business environment and how it affects environment is one that encourages firms to operate the dynamics of the private sector. efficiently. Such conditions strengthen incentives for firms to innovate and to increase productivity — key This document summarizes the results of the Enterprise factors for sustainable development. A more productive Survey for Uzbekistan. Business owners and top private sector, in turn, expands employment and managers in 1,239 firms were interviewed between contributes taxes necessary for public investment in February and September 2019. Figure 2 provides a health, education, and other services. Questions description of the sample breakdown across the three contained in the ES aim at covering most of the topics survey design categories: business sector, firm size, and mentioned above. The topics include infrastructure, location. trade, finance, regulations, taxes and business licensing, corruption, crime and informality, access to finance, innovation, labor, and perceptions about obstacles to Figure 1: Sectors of the economy covered by the doing business. Enterprise Surveys The ES are conducted by the World Bank Group and its Excluded Included partners across all geographic regions and cover small, SECTORS SECTORS medium, and large firms. The size of the firm is Agriculture Manufacturing (all subsectors) Fishing Construction determined by the number of employees: 5 to 19 (small), Mining Motor vehicles sales and 20 to 99 (medium), and 100 or more (large). Firms with Public utilities repair less than five employees are ineligible for the survey. Financial intermediation Wholesale Firms that are 100% state-owned are also ineligible. Public administration Retail Partners for the ES have included the European Bank for Education, health and social Hotels and restaurants work Storage, transportation, and Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European communications Investment Bank (EIB), and the UK's Department for IT International Development (DFID). ADDITIONAL CRITERIA ADDITIONAL CRITERIA • < 5 employees • 5+ employees The surveys are administered to a representative sample1 • Informal firms • Formal (registered) firms of firms in the non-agricultural, formal, private economy. • 100% state-owned firms • Minimum of 1% private Sector coverage is defined consistently across all ownership economies and includes the entire manufacturing sector 3 Figure 2: Characteristics of firms surveyed Sector 164 272 Food [164] Textiles [140] 140 Garments [106] Rubber & Plastics Products [115] Non-Metallic Mineral Products [139] Other Manufacturing [177] 126 106 Retail [126] Other Services [272] 177 115 139 Size 221 603 Small (5-19) [603] Medium (20-99) [415] Large (100+) [221] 415 Location 113 205 115 Tashkent [205] Tashkent Region [155] Samarqand Region [147] 123 155 Andijan Region [133] Surxondaryo Region [124] Qashqadaryo Region [124] 124 147 Fergana Region [123] Navoiy And Jizzakh Region [115] Karakalpakstan [113] 124 133 Firms Characteristics Figure 3: Age distribution of firms 60 57 In addition to collecting information on the business environment and firm performance, the ES also collect 50 information on characteristics of private firms. Figure 3 40 shows the distribution of firms in the private sector 28 according to their age, measured by the number of years 30 % of Firms % of they have been in operation. The effect of the business 20 environment on firm performance may depend on firms’ 11 experience and longevity. Also, older firms and young 10 firms may differ in their ability to successfully navigate the 1 1 0 1 0 business environment. 0-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 60+ Firm Age (Years) 4 Figure 4 exhibits the percentage of female participation in The incidence of training is measured by the percent of employment, in top management and in firm ownership, firms that offer formal training and the intensity of compared to the equivalent percentages for the region training is measured by the share of workers receiving and for economies with similar income levels. Female training in the manufacturing sector. inclusion in economic activity is necessary for promoting shared prosperity, one of the twin development goals of Figure 6: Within firms offering training, proportion of the World Bank Group. workers trained* 60 53.6 53.0 Figure 4: Female participation in employment, top 50 management and ownership