On 16 April 2021 the Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) organised a Webinar on “Improving existing mechanisms of protection of the rights of entrepreneurs in Kyrgyzstan”. The activity was organised in cooperation with the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The main objective of the event was to present the Council of Europe expert research reviewing Kyrgyz legal and institutional frameworks and to suggest and discuss recommendations for possible improvements with the state authorities, namely with the Business Ombudsman Institution and the newly created General Prosecutor’s Office Department for supervision over the compliance with the rights of entrepreneurs and protection of investors. The activity also provided an opportunity to discuss the new draft law on Business Ombudsman, which is currently under development, and relevant amendments to other legal acts to accompany its submission to the Parliament.
The webinar was attended by representatives of relevant state authorities as well as business associations. The participants exchanged views on the most problematic areas of the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs in Kyrgyzstan, such as the need to improve practical implementation of legal mechanisms of protection, online procedures for inspections, safeguards for small and medium enterprises, cooperation between the Business Ombudsman and law enforcement agencies, as well as the need to simplify a number of administrative procedures for business.
The results of the webinar will be reflected in the Technical Paper which is going to contain a detailed review of the existing legal framework on the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs in Kyrgyzstan, a set of recommendations for improvement based on Council of Europe standards and an overview of selected international good practice.
This activity was organised in the framework of the project “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime”, part of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023, joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The project is aimed at strengthening capacities to fight and prevent economic crime in five Central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan.