Uzbekistan shifts to Int’l Classification of Economic Activities

By Azernews

By Gunay Hasanova

Uzbekistan will move to the International Classification of Economic Activities (ICEA) from January 1, 2017, following the government regulations of August 29.

The country will move to National Classification of Economic Activities (NACE) developed on the basis of the statistical classification of the EU economic activities.

The resolution notes that the use of NACE is necessary for the interdepartmental interaction of state administration bodies in the forms of statistical, tax and financial reporting.

ICEA will be included in the register of directories and classifiers of "Electronic government" system for its subsequent use in information systems and resources of state bodies containing and processing information on legal entities.

On the basis of NCEA the classification of organizations relating to small businesses was approved as well.

The local bodies of state administration and administration in determining the types of organizations should be strictly guided by the classification of the entities belonging to small businesses and use NCEA in information systems and resources, as well as in interagency of electronic interaction.

Uzbekistan, with the goal of becoming an industrialized, upper-middle-income country by 2030, is continuing to make transition steps towards a more market-oriented economy.

The country is a major producer and exporter of cotton, although the importance of this commodity has declined significantly since the country achieved independence.  Uzbekistan is also a big producer of gold, with the largest open-pit gold mine in the world. The country has substantial deposits of copper, strategic minerals, gas, and oil.

Despite a generally subdued performance in the developing Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, Uzbekistan’s economy continues to grow at significant rates.

Uzbekistan’s external environment is expected to stabilize or recover moderately in the medium term as commodity prices gradually pick up and the Russian economy recovers from the recession of 2015-16.