Osh, 12 April 2024– The first meeting of the Regional Investment Council under the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic in Osh province was held. It was attended by Ainura Usenbekova, Deputy Minister of Economy and Commerce, Uluk Kydyrbaev, Head of the Secretariat of the Investment Council, Nurbek Anarbekin, Director of the Public -Private Partnership Center, Monica Rijal, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, representatives of the business community, State Tax Service, and local authorities.

The focus of the discussion centered on the importance of investment and public-private dialogue to drive regional economic development. This involved reinforcing public-private dialogue, increasing private sector awareness of tax innovations, and exploring opportunities for public-private partnerships. Local entrepreneurs and investors had the chance to address shared challenges with relevant government counterparts and present their perspectives and potential solutions.

“The newly established Regional Investment Council will serve as a platform for resolving issues arising when doing business. It will play a leading role in improving the conditions for business development and the investment climate, protecting and supporting activities of business entities, and promoting public-private partnerships,” said Ilyaz Tashbaev, Deputy Representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic in Osh province. 

“Today’s event promotes the Governmental plans and priorities to ensure sustainable and inclusive dialogue between the government, entrepreneurs and local authorities to jointly determine the regional agenda for development of the business and investments, involve businesses in regulatory policy, co-develop recommendations and engage them in the implementation of the regional development policy,” said Uluk Kydyrbaev, Head of the Secretariat of the Investment Council. 

UNDP supports the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in strengthening public-private dialogue to shape the business agenda. To achieve this objective, UNDP, alongside key partners, will implement interventions aimed at establishing Regional Investment Councils. These councils will serve as platforms for dialogue, facilitating the institutional strengthening of public-private dialogue mechanisms.

“We look forward to seeing the progress of the Regional Investment Council to become a sustainable and effective dialogue platform in a multi-stakeholder manner addressing multiple challenges spanning various areas, such as the business development, entrepreneurship, youth entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship, creative industry, digitalization, tourism, regional development, raising export potential, promoting green solutions and strengthening an investment capacity of the region,”  underlined Monica Rijal, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Kyrgyzstan.

“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 Osh province.

UNDP's assistance will encompass several key areas in coordination and collaboration with relevant national partners:

• Facilitating the establishment of regional investment councils by providing essential dialogue platforms.
• Offering additional technical support to enhance public-private dialogue and partnership mechanisms through creating dialogue spaces and expertise provision.
• Collaborating on joint visioning and action planning, covering various themes crucial for fostering a conducive business environment and investment climate.
• Assisting in the formulation of investment development plans in selected cities.

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

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For additional information on the activities of the Osh Investment Development Council contact Omurbek Aidarov, leading specialist of the department of economics and integrated development of the region of the office of the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic in Osh province: +996 999 080 808 

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