The Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan currently places special emphasis on interagency cooperation in priority areas. With the aim of reducing the shadow economy through innovative and technological approaches and creating favorable conditions for small and medium-sized businesses to undertake entrepreneurial activity through accessible financial instruments, relevant measures are being implemented.
To this end, on 19 September 2025 the Central Bank held a roundtable attended by founders of startup projects in the logistics sector, venture funds, commercial banks, organizations engaged in trade lending, and representatives of ministries and agencies.
Within the roundtable, opportunities for developing domestic and foreign startups in logistics and promising projects were presented. It was emphasized that the development of startup projects creates opportunities to introduce digital solutions aimed at addressing existing problems in the logistics sector and ensuring transparency.
Practical support for and assistance in the development of startup projects were also considered. In particular:
1. Expanding opportunities to attract investment and credit resources.
Proposal: establish cooperation between startups, commercial banks and organizations engaged in trade lending and develop joint products. It was noted that venture companies should be prepared to assume greater risk to support projects in this field.
2. Difficulties in access to insurance services, especially in the regions.
Proposal: develop a pilot project to simplify the process of obtaining insurance in cooperation with commercial banks, insurance companies and startup projects.
3. On the international market there is a mechanism for refunding value-added tax (VAT) on fuel and ancillary services (road charges, parking, repairs, etc.), which Uzbek companies currently are not able to utilize.
Proposal: together with the State Tax Committee and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, consider the feasibility of implementing this practice for companies in Uzbekistan.
4. Long queues and insufficient transparency of procedures are observed when entering customs control points.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance reported that an electronic queue system has been implemented for passing through customs control points.
Proposal: promote this online platform, increase drivers’ awareness and continuously improve business processes at customs posts based on advanced foreign experience.
5. There are advanced startup projects in the transport logistics sector, but awareness of these systems among industry representatives and the public, and their level of utilization, remain low.
Proposal: through cooperation between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Transport with the relevant agencies, inform the public and business entities about operating startup projects and implement concrete measures to increase their awareness.
6. The “Transport permit in accordance with the type of carriage” (dozvol) issued by the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan is currently granted only to legal entities and in limited quantities, which creates shortages and high demand.
Proposal: increase the transparency of the permit issuance process and expand the circle of participants eligible to obtain permits.
7. Limited use of banking products (factoring, credit cards, etc.) by startup projects.
Proposal: it was decided that FEA “National Bank” will develop a special product in the form of fuel cards (fuel card) to optimize carriers’ fuel payments.
8. Startup project leaders are insufficiently aware of the available digital solutions.
Proposal: information was provided on the digital solutions and other capabilities offered by “Didox” LLC in the process of issuing transport cargo documents.
Additionally, during the roundtable it was emphasized that there are opportunities to implement alternative scoring methods (for example, by analyzing carriers’ turnover and transaction flows), and it was deemed appropriate to study this direction together with commercial banks and insurance companies.
Roundtable outcomes:
1. The need to continue systematic dialogue among startup projects, financial institutions and state agencies was emphasized.
2. An agreement was reached to thoroughly develop the proposed measures and implement them jointly in subsequent steps.
3. It was established that JC “Xalq Bank”, in cooperation with an insurance organization, will develop a simplified pilot insurance product tailored to market participants’ needs.
4. The issue of state banks providing factoring services to logistics companies will be examined.
5. The insurance company “Uzbekinvest” proposed creating an insurance product suitable for the logistics sector and integrating it with logistics mobile applications.
6. It was proposed that the Ministry of Transport fundamentally review and improve the efficiency of the system for issuing “Transport permit in accordance with the type of carriage” (dozvol) for international road transports.
7. FEA “National Bank” proposed developing a special fuel card product to optimize carriers’ fuel payments.
The meeting served as a platform for systematic dialogue among all participants and for finding balanced solutions. At the same time, it creates new opportunities to integrate fintech initiatives into the development of startups and the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and it serves as an important part of a comprehensive program aimed at supporting the digital economy.
