Republic of Uzbekistan: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Excellerator Program--Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Competitiveness and Market Access (ADB-59386-001)

Regions
  • Europe and Central Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Uzbekistan
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Asian Development Bank (ADB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 19, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Government of Uzbekistan - Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Industry and Trade
  • Technical Cooperation
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Grant
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 1.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 1.40 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ ADB website

Updated in EWS Apr 26, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Dec 19, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the technical assistance (TA) will establish and operate the Small and Medium Size Enterprise (SME) Excellerator Program (hereinafter Program) to: (i) enhance investment readiness of SMEs for commercial financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other financial institutions, (ii) strengthen SME competitiveness, and (iii) promote foreign trade and improve export competitiveness and access to overseas markets for Uzbekistan's SMEs. The Program will address both macro- and sector-level constraints while delivering tailored solutions for export-oriented SMEs nationwide, with inclusion embedded across outreach, delivery, and monitoring. Designed as a cost-recovery knowledge and support TA, it will provide an integrated package of policy advice, capacity development, and market linkages to catalyze private sector-led growth and export diversification.

In line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between ADB and the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade (MIIT) in June 2025, the TA will deliver an integrated solution combining policy and sector reforms with SME-level acceleration and market linkages. It directly supports the Government's reform agenda outlined in Strategy Uzbekistan-2030 (Presidential Decree UP-158, 11 September 2023), the SME Development Strategy, and Presidential Decree UP-50 (19 March 2025) on enhancing SME and export support mechanisms.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

According to the Technical Assistance Report, the Risk Categories are:

Environment: Not Applicable
Involuntary Resettlement: Not Applicable
Indigenous Peoples: Not Applicable

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

The TA financing amount is $1,000,000 which will be financed by ADB’s Technical Assistance Special Fund (TASF 8).7 The TA will be subject to arrangements seeking partial recovery of the amount financed under the TA. Under these arrangements, $400,000 will be provided by the Government of Uzbekistan through upfront payment from Trade Facility Fund and such funds will be administered by ADB.


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Project Officer: Sherzod R. Akbarov
Designation: Senior Economics Officer - Asian Development Bank
Email: sakbarov@adb.org

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.adb.org/forms/request-information-form

ADB has a two-stage appeals process for requesters who believe that ADB has denied their request for information in violation of its Access to Information Policy. You can learn more about filing an appeal at: https://www.adb.org/site/disclosure/appeals

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF ADB

The Accountability Mechanism is an independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an Asian Development Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Accountability Mechanism, they may investigate to assess whether the Asian Development Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can learn more about the Accountability Mechanism and how to file a complaint at: http://www.adb.org/site/accountability-mechanism/main.

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How it works