Information Technology Committee

On 24 February 2006 15:00- 16:30 in the conference room of the AmCham Tashkent office the AmCham Information Technology Committee held the first in a series of workshops dedicated to Common Legal Problems in the Internet. The primary theme of this seminar was Domain Names Protection and covered an overview of world experience and Uzbekistan legislation. This overview included discussion of the problem of copyright protection on the Internet, protection of domain names, e-commerce regulation in Uzbekistan, the illegal character of SPAM e-mails and related topics. The presentation was made by "InTcLEX-Shofirkon", a law firm who specializes in IT law. The workshop was well attended and the discussion lively and the participants provided more insight into the real problems faced on the Internet with respect of protection of legal rights. This workshop was prepared under the guidance of the AmCham IT Committee Chairman - Omon Munimov, NEXT LLC.

Small - Medium Enterprise Committee

During the past year SME Committee members have had a number of informal meetings with visiting delegations representing the major International Financial Institutions (IFIs). These meetings were unique opportunities to allow AmCham members to share their views and experiences with representatives of IFIs in an effort to give the IFIs a balanced view of the business environment in Uzbekistan and allow SME members to elaborate first hand the problems faced by their local businesses.

The SME Committee, in collaboration with Logic Company, Acordia Northeast Inc., and Zurich Emerging Markets Solutions, plans a Seminar for June 2006 titled "The Financial Tools for Increasing Export and Preventing Foreign Trade Risks". The topics will include trade and project financing and will be oriented to Uzbek exporters, importers and bankers.

Tax and Accounting Committee

During 2005, Vera Makarova, Audit -AS, Chairperson of the AmCham Tax and Accounting Committee organized several tax and accounting seminars for mem­bers of Amcham. Invited to participate and present up to date information were leading specialists and department heads of Uzbek tax organizations. These informative seminars allowed our members the opportunity to meet the decision makers and specialists and the resulting dialog benefited all participants. In this issue of Business Connections we present an article written by Vera Makarova discussing the tax issues affecting representation offices in Uzbekistan.