SME policy reforms require strong ongoing political commitment by key government agencies. The Second Private Sector and Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Program (PSME2) supported government agencies on this agenda to improve the regulatory business environment, the effectiveness of business enterprise processes, access, capacity, and responsiveness.
Lack of capacity in governmen to continue reforms without external support puts the sustainability of reform projects' outputs at risk. Reforming the sector requires strong ownership and commitment in terms of providing sufficient financing and policy changes to support the reform. Some project outputs—including the textbook rental scheme and textbook provision, online training modules and attestation for teachers, curricula review system, and financing of innovative schools' additional functions—are incomplete as the government still has not implemented them countrywide.
Selection of suitable participating financial institution (PFI) partners is key to the successful implementation of a financial intermediation loan (FIL) project. PFIs that are financially sound, have good track records, and strategic orientation toward small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and strong project ownership—such as those selected under the project—are likely to be effective in implementing FILs for small businesse
Establishing an internally sourced project management unit (PMU) at the executing agency and project implementation units at PFIs will improve project management and efficiency. The Ministry of Finanace did not establish a separate PMU but assigned a focal point from existing staff to lead project management. However, high turnover of the assigned MOF staff affected project continuity and institutional memory and delayed submission of safeguard reports.
implementation of environmental and social management system, capacity building and skills training, gender mainstreaming, and additional funding support for small businesses. In addition to strengthening the capacity of the PFIs to lend to small businesses, capacity building can also help prepare PFIs without previous experience working with IFIs for future partnerships with international agencies.
The experience and knowledge gained by the PFIs—especially Davr Bank and the UzbekLeasing International A.O., which subsequently attracted other development partners—added value to the project. The areas that were particularly beneficial across the PFIs were project analysis, formulation, and
Strong collaboration between the executing agency and the land office from the project planning stage is critical to minimize delays in land acquisition completion and land ownership update.
Close coordination is required to ensure high utilization of project-financed assets. The executing agency is responsible only for the construction, installation, and commissioning of transmission assets, as required by the National Dispatch Center, while the utilization of assets is the responsibility of the National Dispatch Center. Although the utilization of assets built under this project is satisfactory at present, the executing agency is not aware of the future planned level of utilization.
Strong government ownership is critical to achieving results. The Cabinet of Ministers, the and other project agencies had to coordinate closely among themselves to ensure that changes in law, decrees, regulatory changes, and board resolutions were implemented in a timely manner. If any intermediate step had been delayed, this would have resulted in a knock-on effect on other outcomes and resulted in delays in the project timetable. The Ministry of Finance negotiated concurrently for budget support from several development partners.
Collaboration with development partners is essential to build consensus for reforms. Donor consensus and support for critical reforms, backed by a policy-based loan and plan to subsequently complement by project-level funding, contributed to the success of this program. Continued long-term engagement on reforms supported by investments is necessary for sustainability.