Uzbekistan, November, 28 2012 - IFC and the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan are partnering to strengthen the country’s financial infrastructure and expand access to finance for entrepreneurs and smaller businesses.

The two institutions will develop laws that allow companies to use movable assets – including inventory, accounts receivable, and equipment – as collateral for loans. That will make it easier for smaller businesses, who may not have traditional collateral like land, to obtain financing, expand, and create jobs.

“One of Uzbekistan’s main objectives is to increase access to financial resources based on market principals, and secured transactions are one tool for doing that,” said Shukhrat Khaydarov, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan.

“Collateral registries are vital to increasing access to finance for micro and small enterprises, which are key drivers of economic growth in Uzbekistan,” said Moazzam Mekan, IFC Regional Manager for Central Asia. “IFC will continue supporting the government’s efforts to develop a well-functioning secured lending framework in Uzbekistan”.

IFC hosted a conference on regulating secured transactions and collateral registries in Tashkent earlier this week. The event brought together more than 100 representatives from the government, the Uzbek Parliament, state agencies, and local financial institutions.

The initiative is part of IFC’s Azerbaijan and Central Asia Financial Infrastructure Project which, implemented in partnership with Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), aims to strengthen the financial infrastructure in Uzbekistan.