In the new Index of Economic Freedom, Uzbekistan improved its position and took 108th place out of 178, up to 6 positions compared to last year.
Experts note that The indicator of economic freedom of Uzbekistan is 58.3, which allowed to take the 108th place in the ranking of 2021. The overall score increased by 1.1 points, primarily due to the efficiency of the judicial system.
Uzbekistan ranks 21st out of 40 countries in the Asia-Pacific region and its overall score is below the regional and world average.
"In 2020, the government announced a new development strategy, which includes reforming different areas. If this proves successful, Uzbekistan will be able to join the ranks of moderately free economies," experts say.
The Economic Freedom Index rates the world's countries on a scale from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest) in four main areas, divided into 12 composite indicators such as Property Rights, Judicial Efficiency, Government Participation, Tax Burden, Public Expenditure, Fiscal Health, Freedom of Business, Freedom of the Labor Market, Monetary Freedom, Free Trade, Freedom of Investment and Financial Freedom.
Analysts note that in 2020, the new law allowed the privatization of non-agricultural land. Property ownership is generally respected.
Uzbekistan has expanded the rights of minority shareholders and their role in making important corporate decisions. The structures of ownership and control have been clarified, and corporate transparency has been increased. The added value per worker has increased. According to the IMF forecast, government subsidies will amount to 0.3 percent of GDP in 2020.
Uzbekistan has four preferential trade agreements. However, tariff and non-tariff barriers make development difficult, making Uzbekistan's accession to the World Trade Organization more difficult.
It is noted that measures have been taken to improve the investment environment, including simplification of privatization and weakening of currency controls.
The index is led by Singapore, New Zealand and Australia in 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Switzerland and Ireland are also in the top five.
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