Developing entrepreneurship, increasing the share of small and medium-sized businesses in the economy, and expanding their access to financial resources are among the key areas of reform in New Uzbekistan.

In recent years, several programs have been implemented in this area, and mechanisms for providing entrepreneurs with loans, compensation, guarantees, and other forms of financial support have been expanded. At the same time, it was noted that certain barriers remain to small and medium-sized businesses’ access to financial services.

Today, the loan portfolio allocated to small and medium-sized businesses totals 218 trillion UZS, or 12 percent of gross domestic product. At the same time, the share of unsecured microloans issued online remains low. The process of providing such microloans takes an average of 7 days. Entrepreneurs do not have the opportunity to receive offers from several banks in one place, compare them, and choose the most suitable terms.

In this regard, the presentation proposed launching a digital financial platform. Through it, entrepreneurs will be able to submit a loan application, receive commercial offers from several banks, compare them, and choose the most convenient option.

The platform will be integrated with the Electronic Government system’s digital databases. Information on small and medium-sized businesses will be automatically transmitted to banks. This will reduce the need for document collection, save time, and minimize the human factor in reviewing loan applications.

Starting December 1, 2026, an alternative scoring model that uses elements of artificial intelligence is planned to be introduced on the platform.

While traditional scoring is primarily based on credit history, alternative scoring considers business activity, utility payments, turnover, tax records, and other digital data. This will enable the assessment of entrepreneurs without a credit history and expand their access to financial services.

In the future, artificial intelligence will be used to generate recommendations for improving entrepreneurs’ credit histories, assessing potential risks, and developing their businesses.

The launch of an “AI Consultant” program by commercial banks is also planned. It will help develop business ideas and identify opportunities to finance them, taking into account the specialization of mahallas and their growth points.

Additional preferences are planned as part of the continuous small business support program. For entrepreneurs who have previously used a microloan under this program and have a positive credit history, the unsecured portion of the microloan will be increased from 100 million to 200 million UZS.

In addition, regardless of the size of the loan or lease, part of the interest expenses on amounts up to 5 billion UZS will be compensated.

It was proposed to allocate annual grants of up to 300 million UZS to 100 business entities that have expanded their operations and achieved strong results, to cover expenses related to digitalization, the adoption of international standards, and the implementation of green technologies.

The Head of State approved the proposals presented and instructed responsible officials to expand access to financial services for small and medium-sized businesses without a credit history, and to ensure platform security and data protection.