Uzbekistan launches Family Entrepreneurship program
To provide loans to citizens for small business development
Uzbekistan has kicked off an ambitious new program called “Family Entrepreneurship” that aims to fuel the nation’s micro-businesses and entrepreneurs. The scheme will offer citizens interest-free, unsecured loans of up to 50 million soums to support their fledgling ventures.
The loans are targeted at some 2.4 million self-employed residents who are officially registered as running micro-businesses. Those paying an annual social tax of 340,000 soums will qualify for preferential financing under the program. Successful applicants will see the money transferred directly to their bank cards to use towards initial business costs and expenses.
Separately, residents seeking to scale up their operations or transition into full entrepreneurship can access larger loans of up to 100 million soums. Half of this amount will be deposited electronically for easy access and utilization. No collateral is needed for either type of loan.
The initiative was announced by Uzbekistan’s presidential administration and forms part of ongoing efforts to liberalize the economy and support entrepreneurship nationwide. With interest-free capital now within reach, the scheme could be a catalyst for multiplying the country’s micro-businesses.