On additional measures to ensure the effectiveness of expert assistance in the implementation of structural reforms (RP-198-son)

29.05.2024

Resolution

of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan

In order to ensure compliance and effectiveness of assistance of foreign experts for timely and qualitative implementation of large-scale structural reforms on the way to achieving the goals defined in the Strategy “Uzbekistan — 2030”:

1. To take note that state bodies and organizations for effective implementation of structural reforms have the right to engage qualified foreign consultants and experts, including international financial institutions and foreign government financial organizations and consulting companies (hereinafter — foreign consultants and experts), at their own expense or budgetary funds.

2. The Agency for Strategic Reforms to determine as a coordinating body of the process of attracting foreign consultants and experts by state bodies and organizations (hereinafter referred to as the customer organization).

3. To establish the procedure according to which:

a) foreign consultants and experts are engaged on the basis of a tripartite contract concluded between them, the client organization and the Agency for Strategic Reforms:

the contract with foreign consultants and experts shall be concluded for a period of up to one year with the possibility of subsequent extension of this period;

the contract reflects the tasks (in the form of terms of reference) and individual key performance indicators (KPIs) to be fulfilled by foreign consultants and experts;

on a monthly basis, the client organization draws up an act on the work performed and services rendered by foreign consultants and experts. In this case, the final act on all works performed and services rendered by foreign consultants and experts shall be signed in agreement with the Agency for Strategic Reforms;

b) foreign consultants and experts should meet the following basic requirements:

Possession of knowledge, qualifications and necessary skills for reforming the economy, social sphere and other significant areas;

work experience in prestigious international organizations or in advanced enterprises and organizations of foreign countries;

knowledge of foreign languages (English, Russian and others) at the required level.

At the same time, the client organization may set additional requirements for foreign consultants and experts;

c) attraction of foreign consultants and experts by the customer organization is carried out in accordance with the procurement procedures established by law, except for foreign consultants and experts attracted to implement the plan of measures defined in the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 4 March 2024, No RP-109 “On priority measures for the implementation in 2024 of reforms in the main directions defined in the Strategy “Uzbekistan — 2030”;

d) the customer organization shall monthly in mass media, social networks and on its official website cover the work performed and services rendered by foreign consultants and experts, organize regular meetings with their participation to discuss current issues and identify the best ways to address them, and prepare relevant proposals;

e) the appointment and dismissal of foreign consultants and experts to positions of the state civil service shall be carried out in accordance with the legislation on the state civil service.

4. The Agency for Strategic Reforms (B. Rakhmatov):

together with the Chamber of Accounts (A. Boboev) within a month to review the contracts concluded between state bodies, organizations, foreign consultants and experts, make a proposal for their amendment (termination) according to the requirements of this resolution;

together with the Ministry of Digital Technologies (Sh. Shermatov) to form a unified electronic register of foreign consultants and experts by 1 July 2024 and ensure its regular updating;

within two weeks to develop a model contract to be concluded with foreign consultants and experts under the new procedure and submit it to ministries and departments;

to regularly explain the requirements of this Decree to ministries and departments.

5. Regulation on the procedure for attracting foreign consultants and experts for effective implementation of structural reforms to approve according to the Annex.

At that, attraction of foreign consultants and experts for implementation of projects with participation of international financial institutions and foreign government financial organizations shall be carried out in accordance with the rules and requirements of the relevant organizations.

6. Control over the execution of this resolution shall be entrusted to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan A.N. Aripov and Advisor to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan B.M. Mavlonov.

President of the Republic Uzbekistan SH. MIRZIYOYEV

Tashkent,

May 29, 2024,

№ RP-198

ANNEX to Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan № RP-198 dated May 29, 2024

Regulation

on the procedure of attracting foreign consultants and experts for effective implementation of structural reforms

Chapter 1: General Provisions

1. The present Regulation determines the procedure for attracting foreign consultants and experts, international organizations, international financial institutions and consulting companies (hereinafter — foreign consultants and experts) to state bodies and organizations of the Republic of Uzbekistan at the expense of their own or budgetary funds, establishment and systematic control of key performance indicators (KPI) for effective implementation of structural reforms.

2. Involvement of foreign consultants and experts for implementation of projects with participation of international financial institutions and foreign government financial organizations is carried out in accordance with the rules and requirements of the respective organizations.

3. The following basic concepts are used in this Regulation:

client organization — a state body and/or organization of the Republic of Uzbekistan, attracting(s) foreign consultants and experts, determining(s) their key performance indicators (KPI) and the amount of financial incentives, creating(s) other necessary conditions on the territory of the Republic, and ensuring the continuity of their activities;

act — a document signed by the foreign consultant and expert and the client organization, confirming that the tasks specified in the terms of the contract have been performed by foreign consultants and experts in good faith, in a timely and high-quality manner;

foreign consultants and experts — international financial institutions and foreign governmental financial organizations, leading foreign consulting companies, research organizations, analytical centerʼs and think tanks, as well as citizens of foreign countries and/or stateless persons with up-to-date knowledge and necessary professional experience;

agreement — a tripartite agreement prepared by foreign consultants, experts and the client organization on the basis of an analysis of data on the feasibility of engaging a given foreign consultant and expert, requirements for their competencies, objectives, list of required services, expected results, sources and amounts of funding for the services, planned procedures for acquiring the services, etc., drawn up between the foreign consultant, expert, client organization and the Agency for Strategic Reforms under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

necessary conditions — full or partial coverage of expenses (social package) of foreign consultants and experts related to medical and transport services, upbringing of their children in pre-school educational institutions, their education in institutions of general secondary education and/or higher education, rent of accommodation during the period specified in the contract concluded with them;

Agency for Strategic Reforms — a body that coordinates the process of attracting foreign consultants and experts by state bodies and organizations.

Chapter 2: Procedures for engaging foreign consultants and experts

4. The client organization shall engage foreign consultants and experts on a full-time basis or for the duration of a particular project within, or in addition to, the established number of employees.

5. The contract with foreign consultants and experts is concluded for a period of up to one year, with the possibility of further extension of this period. The contract shall reflect the tasks (in the form of terms of reference) and individual key performance indicators (KPIs) to be fulfilled by foreign consultants and experts.

6. On a monthly basis, the client organization shall draw up an act on works performed and services rendered by foreign consultants and experts. In this case, the final act on all works performed by foreign consultants and experts and services rendered by them shall be signed in agreement with the Agency for Strategic Reforms.

7. In accordance with the Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, deductions and taxes are paid in the prescribed manner from the monthly monetary remuneration paid for the work of foreign consultants and experts.

8. Material stimulation of foreign consultants and experts and creation of necessary conditions for them are carried out by the organization-customer.

9. Appointment of foreign consultants and experts to positions of the state civil service and their dismissal from their positions shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation.

Chapter 3: Requirements for foreign consultants and experts

10. The main requirements for foreign consultants and experts are:

a) knowledge of foreign languages (English, Russian and others) at the required level;

b) knowledge, qualifications and necessary skills for reforming the social sphere, economy and other important areas;

c) work experience in prestigious international organizations or in advanced enterprises and organizations of foreign countries.

The client organization may set additional requirements for foreign consultants and experts.

Chapter 4: Sources of attracting foreign consultants and experts and their material incentives

11. The sources of formation of funds related to material stimulation of foreign consultants and experts and creation of necessary conditions for them are:

funds of the reserve fund of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

The Fund for Reconstruction and Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

extrabudgetary funds of ministries, departments and organizations;

funds from other international organizations and international financial institutions, i.e. grants and gratuitous technical assistance;

charitable donations from individuals and legal entities;

other sources not prohibited by acts of legislation.

12. Revenues and expenditures of funds allocated for foreign consultants and experts are maintained on a separate personal treasury account opened with the Treasury Service Committee under the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

13. To confirm the expediency of engaging foreign consultants and experts to the project, the client organization shall submit the following documents to the Agency for Strategic Reforms:

a) conclusion of the first head of the customer organization;

b) CV, reference and portfolio of practice;

c) copies of diplomas and other relevant certificates;

d) information about works and projects carried out in previous years and relevant to the project to be implemented;

e) project implementation plan with the involvement of foreign consultants and experts or proposals for the development of this area in case of their full-time involvement (including analysis of the impact of expected results on strategic development programmes and goals of the Republic of Uzbekistan);

f) recommendation from the management from the previous place of work or from the project initiator;

g) copies of official documents on permission to engage foreign consultants and experts by the client organization in accordance with the established procedure.

14. The process of setting and evaluating KPIs is carried out in three stages and the customer organization considers the following:

a) Stage 1. Development of indicators and evaluation criteria:

a clear list of monthly performance objectives for the foreign consultants and experts involved in the project is developed;

specific milestones or indicators (including coaching of the client organizationʼs employees) that can measure the strategic objectives of the relevant industry or project during the contract period are identified;

the compliance of the client organizationʼs capabilities with the calculations of the necessary financial, technical and human resources (hereinafter referred to as necessary resources) to perform the set tasks and achieve the strategic objectives is justified.

b) Stage 2. Regular support and monitoring:

by conducting a face-to-face interview with the foreign consultant and expert (or his/her representative) by the first manager of the client organization at least once a month;

regular monitoring of the foreign consultant's and expert's resource availability;

the impact on KPIs of unanticipated additional changes to the monthly tasks and strategic goals set at the 1st stage is analysed;

situations arising due to bureaucratic or other reasons are promptly resolved.

c) Stage 3. Evaluation:

a report on the execution of plans to achieve the objectives and strategic goals set in Stage 1, as well as on the achievement of KPIs is submitted by foreign consultants and experts on a quarterly basis;

the report is evaluated by the client organization on the basis of specific results according to the following criteria, i.e. when the aggregate performance indicator is:

less than 50 per cent — unsatisfactory. In this case, the contract concluded with foreign consultants and experts is cancelled;

between 50 and 70 per cent — low. In this case, foreign consultants and experts are required to make specific plans to improve performance and are given a three-month period to do so;

70 to 85 per cent — medium level. In this case, the resources required to realise the full potential of overseas consultants and experts are reviewed;

85 to 100 per cent — high level. In this case, the client organization may propose incentives for the foreign consultants and experts.

The client organization submits a quarterly report to the Agency for Strategic Reforms on the results of evaluation of foreign consultants and experts. This report is summarised in the personal file of the foreign consultant and expert.

15. The amount of material incentives for foreign consultants and experts may be revised annually by the client organization depending on the specific scope of work.

Chapter 5: Rights and obligations of the customer organization

16. The client organization has the following rights:

attraction of foreign consultants and experts;

determining and revising the amount of material incentives for foreign consultants and experts, making a decision on the suitability of foreign consultants and experts for project implementation based on the results of monitoring;

defining specific indicators and targets, including KPIs, for foreign consultants and experts;

continuous monitoring of the labour activity of foreign consultants and experts.

17. The client organization has the following obligations:

compliance with the rules established in the contracts;

to create the necessary resources and conditions to fulfil the tasks assigned to foreign consultants and experts;

to enter information on the work performed by foreign consultants and experts into the unified electronic register on a monthly basis and to ensure its regular updating.

18. No other payments may be made by the client organization, except for the material incentive payments provided for in the contract.

Chapter 6: Rights and obligations of foreign consultants and experts

19. Foreign consultants and experts have the following rights:

demand from the customer organization to create the necessary conditions for the performance of the tasks assigned to them;

to receive the necessary information from the customer organization for the performance of their tasks.

20. Foreign consultants and experts have the following obligations:

conscientious and efficient fulfilment of all obligations stipulated by the contract in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract;

submission of monthly reports to the client organization;

full compliance with the terms and conditions of the contract.

Chapter 7: Privacy

21. During the term of the contract and after its termination, foreign consultants and experts are obliged to maintain confidentiality with regard to information obtained in the course of their activities, including information received from the client organization or from other agencies.

Foreign consultants and experts are not allowed to disclose such information directly or indirectly to third parties without the written permission of the client organization and the Agency for Strategic Reforms.

Chapter 8: Final provisions

22. After signing the agreement, foreign consultants and experts shall obtain confirmation of the right to carry out labour activity in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan in accordance with the procedure established by legislative acts.

23. Persons guilty of violating the requirements of these Regulations shall be held liable in accordance with the procedure established by acts of legislation.