On May 3, Economy Minister Oleg Pankratov met with business representatives to discuss the reforms undertaken by the Ministry aimed at supporting and developing entrepreneurship in Kyrgyzstan.

Minister Pankratov told entrepreneurs about achievements, reforms and plans to improve the business environment and the investment attractiveness of the country.

He spoke about the implemented initiatives including the creation of a business ombudsman institution, introduction of a moratorium on inspections of entrepreneurs by the state, creation of business service centers, completion of investment projects totaling more than $12 million, and 15 projects that are being implemented under the public private partnership (PPP).

Deputy Economy Minister Eldar Abakirov delivered a detailed presentation of the reforms implemented by the Ministry (the presentation attached).

The discussion was attended by representatives of government agencies, business associations, and international development partners.

The second half of the meeting was devoted to the analysis of questions and suggestions from the business community.

Executive Director of the International Business Council (IBC), Askar Sydykov, provided comments on the mechanism of arbitration courts.

The IBC experts carefully studied the draft law on amending the Law on arbitration courts developed by the Economy Ministry and concluded that it cannot work as it was planned. Due to the nature of arbitration proceedings, the decisions already taken cannot not be appealed to state bodies.

“We are proposing a more realistic option – to create a council at the State Tax Service, which will consider appeals,” said Askar Sydykov.

The State Tax Service is now considering complaints against the decisions of its own services, which is not objective. The council created with a predominance of business representatives, could be more efficient and could seamlessly integrate into the existing system, explained the IBC head.

IBC plans to set up a working group to draft the relevant bill.