Last week, a meeting was held at the Secretariat of the Investment Council under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic to discuss a proposal for developing a legal and regulatory framework on self-regulatory organizations (SROs) in the country.

The meeting was attended by Uluk Kydyrbaev, Head of the Secretariat; Bakyt Samakov, Chief Legal Expert; Almazbek Musabekov, Chief Economic Expert; and members of the Investment Council - Sergey Ponomarev, President of the Association of Markets, Trade Enterprises and Services; Tatyana Kim, Chairman of the Board of the Chamber of Tax Consultants of the Kyrgyz Republic; and Ivan Geletyuk, Head of the Secretariat of the National Alliance of Business Associations (NABA).

The key focus of the discussion was the significance of this initiative in improving the business environment - particularly in terms of reducing bureaucracy, enhancing transparency, and increasing the efficiency of interactions between entrepreneurs and public authorities.

Self-regulatory organizations are associations of entrepreneurs - either sectoral or professional - to which the government delegates a range of regulatory and oversight functions. During the meeting, participants noted that introducing the SRO mechanism would allow the business community to take a more active role in regulating its own sectors, thereby helping to reduce excessive bureaucracy.

By transferring certain public functions to industry-specific associations - such as certification, categorization, and participation in compliance monitoring - administrative burdens on both businesses and public institutions could be reduced.

International practices were cited, where business-government interaction is often carried out through associations. This approach is expected to improve the transparency of rulemaking and ensure that the interests of the business community are considered at early stages of policy development.

Mechanisms for SRO accreditation and the participation of a broad range of associations in dialogue with the state are intended to ensure a balance of interests and a competitive environment among business associations.

Participants agreed that the development of a modern legal framework for self-regulatory organizations is both timely and necessary to further improve the country’s investment climate.

The Secretariat of the Investment Council will continue its work on the draft legal act on SROs in cooperation with associations and taking into account the proposals voiced during the discussion.