On 14 and 15 September 2021, the OECD held a two-day capacity-building led by Business France, the French export promotion agency. The event is part of the monitoring cycle of the implementation of OECD recommendations on SME export promotion policies in Uzbekistan. It focused on the targeting and impact measurement of export promotion policies.
The capacity-building series followed from a specific request of Uzbekistan that arose during the OECD monitoring process for a policy-dialogue with peers on export-market research targeting the needs of businesses, and measurement of the impact of export promotion policies. The event was organised as part of the OECD Policy Component of the EU Central Asia Invest initiative and brought together experts from Business France with a number of stakeholders, from the public and private sectors in Uzbekistan.
Opening both events, Mr Tengiz Asanov, Deputy Head of the Investment Climate Department at the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade, emphasised the relevance of OECD work in supporting the government’s reform agenda. He outlined the most recent steps taken by the government to support export promotion. He also underlined the benefits from the recommendations formulated as part of the OECD peer-review and monitoring exercise in their development and implementation.
Mr François Bégeot, Head of Co-operation at the EU Delegation to Uzbekistan, expressed support for the government’s efforts to diversify Uzbekistan’s trade profile, and raise SME exports in recent years. He also noted that the co-operation with the OECD can help Uzbekistan seize the opportunities associated to the implementation of the EPCA agreement, and the country’s adherence to the European GSP+ scheme.
On the second day, both experts discussed the strategy and tools to set up comprehensive monitoring strategies, in particular defining outcome-based key performance indicators (KPIs) and regular surveys of exporting businesses. Linking the discussion with the first day, Mr Yvergniaux detailed Business France’s targeting and impact cycle, a comprehensive approach to export promotion policies from their design to the measurement of their impact. Mr Lecamp complemented this presentation by discussing the pillars of Business France’s approach to measure efficiency, both through a value feedback scheme and KPIs.
Mr Asanov and Mr Bégeot offered closing remarks, thanking the EU and the OECD for carrying out this project, outlining the relevance of peer-dialogue on topics relevant to Uzbekistan’s recovery and growth efforts.