TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, March 7. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending $6 million to Uzbek Leasing International A.O. to support women entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan, Trend reports.
The loan to Uzbek Leasing is provided under the EBRD's Central Asian Women in Business Program. It is supported by a grant from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative and is designed to promote women's entrepreneurship and business development by helping them access finance, know-how and technical advice.
Further support for women entrepreneurs is of key importance to Uzbekistan, which aims to increase the share of small and medium-sized enterprises owned and managed by women from the current 25 percent to 40 percent, in line with the country's 2030 gender strategy.
Meanwhile, the EBRD is providing a $10 million loan for women entrepreneurs to Ipoteka Bank, Uzbekistan's leading private lender, controlled by the OTP Group of Hungary.
Moreover, the World Bank's 2024 Women, Business, and the Law (WBL) annual report highlights Uzbekistan's global progress toward legal gender equality.
Among the five countries recognized for significant improvement since October 2022 are Uzbekistan, along with Jordan, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
