The New Constitution of Uzbekistan: a foundation for a favorable business, investment climate

TASHKENT, Dec 8 (UzA/APP) : On 8 December, the Republic of Uzbekistan celebrates Constitution Day. This important date symbolizes not only profound respect for the Basic Law but also serves as a starting point for implementing the country’s new development strategy. As President Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized, “under the new constitutional conditions, we will continue our reforms even more decisively to ensure human interests and protect human honor and dignity”.
The implementation of these tasks has been given concrete legal substance in the new Constitution, adopted two years ago. It has created a modern legal framework for economic modernization and ensured reliable protection of the rights of entrepreneurs and investors. Furthermore, more than 30 laws and subordinate acts have been brought into conformity with the Basic Law, marking an essential stage in the implementation of the state’s renewal strategy.
Particular importance in achieving these goals is assigned to the entrepreneurial sector, which drives economic growth. For this reason, the Basic Law fully reflects the state’s guarantees aimed at developing free-market mechanisms, ensuring fair competition, protecting private property, and supporting entrepreneurial initiative.
Within these constitutional guarantees, a vital role is played by provisions that shape a favorable business environment, including those related to taxation. Thus, Article 63 introduces a vital addition stating that taxes and fees must be fair and should not impede citizens in exercising their constitutional rights. This enables the population, primarily entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan, to invest their savings in investment projects and obtain substantial returns.
Support for entrepreneurs from public administration and oversight bodies is also of primary importance for the development of the private sector, as it should promote the growth of market relations, business initiatives, and a competitive environment. For this reason, Article 65 emphasizes that the state creates conditions for the development of market relations and fair competition and guarantees freedom of economic activity and entrepreneurship.
By proclaiming constitutional support for ensuring a favorable business and investment climate, the legislator provides the business community and investors with state guarantees. The renewed Constitution also enshrines a provision stating that the foundation of the country’s economy is property in its various forms. Unlike the previous edition, it guarantees the inviolability of private property. An owner may not be deprived of property except in cases and in the manner provided by law and based on a court decision. Thus, the Constitution, the law, and the courts become the sole protectors of property.
The introduction of international best practices into the procedure for the expropriation of property for public needs enables all arising issues to be brought into the legal sphere, ensuring maximum protection of the population and businesses from potential pressure by local authorities, as well as providing fair compensation for incurred expenses.
In the context of implementing the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026, one of the key areas is strengthening the private sector’s role in driving economic growth. This is achieved through ongoing institutional and administrative reforms in property protection and entrepreneurial freedom.
At the constitutional level (Article 67), the state is established to ensure a favorable investment and business climate, guarantee freedom of entrepreneurial activity, and uphold the unity of the economic space, including the free movement of goods, services, labor resources, and financial assets. This creates the conditions necessary to level the development of lagging regions and increase the population’s income.
To create equal conditions for doing business nationwide, modern mechanisms of regional development are being introduced, and forms of state support for entrepreneurship are being improved and their practical effectiveness enhanced. At the same time, particular attention is given to prioritizing consumer rights: state guarantees to businesses are provided with consideration of the need to supply the market with high-quality, competitive products at affordable prices.
The adoption of the new Constitution has enabled the creation of a modern institutional framework for reforming and modernizing the national economy. This contributes to achieving positive macroeconomic indicators and improving the investment and business climate.
The leading indicators of economic liberalization and the development of a competitive environment are the steady growth of the non-state sector and qualitative changes in the structure of GDP. Thus, the share of gross value added increased from 88.3% to 95.3% over 2017-2024, while net taxes decreased from 11.7% to 4.7%.
As a result of the consistent reduction in the tax burden, the number of registered taxpayers in Uzbekistan increased 23-fold to 205,000 in 2025, while tax revenues to the budget grew more than fourfold.
In just the first nine months of 2025, tax revenues to Uzbekistan’s budget exceeded 158 trillion UZS, an 18 percent increase compared to the same period of the previous year.
One of the most important priorities for ensuring sustainable economic growth in Uzbekistan is attracting foreign investment. From 2017 to 2024, the country attracted $130 billion in foreign assets. From January to September 2025 alone, $34.5 billion in foreign investments and loans were utilized, of which $24.9 billion were directed toward creating new production capacities.
Consistent and phased institutional development has had a positive impact on the growth of Uzbekistan’s entrepreneurial sector. As a result, the total number of operating small business entities reached 1,212,000 as of 1 October 2025. The number of small business entities per 1,000 people increased to 32.1, compared to 17.9 in 2022.
Thus, the renewed Constitution of Uzbekistan has created a solid legal foundation for shaping a favorable business and investment climate in the country. The principles it enshrines, support and protection of competition, freedom of entrepreneurship, and the inviolability of property, have proven effective, becoming key drivers of sustainable growth and the modernization of the national economy.