28/08/2022 - 00:02 5287

On August 25 of this year, the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction jointly with the Asian Development Bank organized an online seminar on the topic “Directions for the implementation of ESG principles in enterprises with state participation“.

The seminar was attended by a foreign expert G. Spiller, attracted with the technical support of the Asian Development Bank, representatives of the international rating agency “Moody's” J. Chong and K. Bihari, representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Energy, the Agency for State Asset Management, Uzbekneftegaz JSC, Uztransgaz JSC, Uzmetkombinat JSC, NMMC JSC, Uzkimesanoat JSC and other ministries, departments and organizations attended about 60 representatives.

During the seminar, it was noted that in recent years responsible and environmentally friendly production practices have penetrated into the sphere of investments, as a result of which the issue of implementing the principles of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) at enterprises, especially with state participation, becomes relevant.

It was also emphasized that currently one of the most important conditions for foreign experts is the development of an “ESG” strategy to attract foreign investment through an IPO on international stock markets and obtain an international rating.

Proceeding from this, the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated April 8, 2022 No. UP-101 "On the next reforms to create conditions for stable economic growth by improving the business environment and private sector development" stressed the importance of accelerating work within the framework of the task of further development of the introduction of qualitatively new, in particular, environmental, social and corporate principles management (ESG) in economics.

At the same time, detailed information on the following issues was presented and discussed during the seminar:

- the relevance of "ESG" in attracting investments in industrial enterprises and the development of foreign economic activity, systems and standards of "ESG" used in foreign experience and advanced foreign experience of their implementation;

- analysis of the results of a survey conducted by international financial institutions and rating agencies on “ESG” indicators, methods of their calculation, maintenance and improvement, the current state of implementation of “ESG” principles among large industrial enterprises of Uzbekistan;

- the procedure for preparing, maintaining and submitting ESG reports, international ESG ratings, in particular, the procedures for accessing the rating carried out by the international rating agency Moody's.

In particular, the expert of the Asian Development Bank, Gary Spiller, spoke in detail about ESG systems and standards, best foreign practices for the implementation of ESG, the current situation in Uzbekistan, the results achieved on the implementation of ESG at state-owned enterprises in Uzbekistan and the work ahead.

Also during the seminar, qualified experts of the Moody's rating agency provided detailed information on the principles of the procedure for obtaining an ESG rating and what enterprises need to do.

During the seminar, representatives of the participating industrial enterprises received answers to relevant questions on the topic and agreed to continue joint work within the framework of this project.

Information Service of the

Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction