The government is proposing a law to bureaucracy.
To get all the necessary government approvals to open a business costs time and money.
So perhaps as many as 50 percent of business in Kyrgyzstan don't bother: they exist in
the
black economy.
>>> Ok, thank you. Now we'll see what ordinary people on the street think.
We're from 'Open Kyrgyzstan.'
Could you tell me please,
do the current government procedures for business registration
interfere with the opening of new business?
I haven't come across it myself, but I've heard a lot about it. People say it's too
hard.
I think it's quite difficult.
Yes, they are too many delays. Too many procedures you have to legalize your business. And
it doesn't help business development.
The talk-show airs more than the opinions of average Kyrgyz citizens.
There's always an invited guest expert to challenge the government.
For this episode,
it's businessman Emil Umetaliev.
We're going to see one of the main heroes of this program. It is Emil Umetaliev.
He is the head of the Congress of Business Associations and at the same time he is a
director of this tourism company.
>>> You have to talk about the law from the point of view of those
people it's aimed at. The main purpose of this law is to make life easier for those
who start their own business.
At the moment it takes one month, and
a huge amount of pain, hassle, and it costs
too much money. All this puts people off legalizing their business.
A person things, to hell with it! I'd rather pay the tax man if I get caught.
Did we invite the tax people? --Yes we did.
Maybe we should point this out then.
>>> As a result of this law, hundreds of thousands of ordinary people won't
Be afraid to either register or close their businesses.
>>> This means that the law should be straightforward.
>>> Let's say I'm an entrepreneur. I come and submit
all the documents.
>>> I want to say again that the criteria of this work is the opinion, the reaction
of the private sector.
>>> One should point out as well that one will have to make it simpler to shut down
companies.
Each program's discussion is worked up into a set of recommendations, which
is made available to the appropriate government department, and the general public via
the internet.
>>> You've been watching 'Open Kyrgyzstan, a joint venture of the
Soros Foundation and the Consultative Council for Good Governance. We're always happy to
hear
from you, goodbye.
It was a good debate:
everybody conducted themselves honestly;
nobody was trying to put on an act in these discussions.
This experiment in cooperation between the government and Soros Foundation was not without
its critics.
Some in the government didn't trust Soros.
Some of the opposition didn't think Soros should work with the government.
It's not our goal to
exclude anyone from 'Open Kyrgyzstan'.
We are open.
After all, it's called 'Open Kyrgyzstan'.
And we don't suffer from the delusion of some in the opposition
that they can get by
without working with the government.
As the country faces the challenges of rebuilding after the dramatic events this spring,
'Open Kyrgyzstan' is more needed than ever.
The
final story is from Tajikistan,
one of the most remote of the former Soviet Central Asian Republics, and the poorest.
This is the central train station in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe.
The Moscow train, a five-day journey, leaves today.
And here, lawyers funded by the Soros Foundation are trying to help some of the million or
so
Tajiks who make the journey to Russia every year in search of work.
What's your main problem there? --Getting a residency permit.
And what do the police say
if they catch you without a permit?
"Give us money."
In a poor country like Tajikistan,
migrant labor is important.
The money these men send home is three times larger than the state's annual budget.
But for the migrants, life in Russia is fraught with dangers, especially because of their
fragile legal position there. The Soros Foundation in Tajikistan has decided to try to help them.
It awarded a grant to an independent organization they've worked with before, called the 'League
of Women Lawyers.'
They're now its key local partner on labor migration issues.
For many migrants and their families, it's their only hope.
My son has been missing for over a year now.
In 2002, he went to work to Russia.
And, 11 months later, I lost all contact with him.
Gulnazir Sultonova has visited every office she could think of to find her son.
But nothing worked.
Her hope is that Zebo Sharifova, from the League of Women Lawyers,
will be able to help her.
How old is he?
Here he's 22.
Migrant workers in Russia tend to get low-wage manual labor jobs.
Or they trade on the street like these Tajiks in a Moscow market.
Gulnazir's son found a job on a construction site.
After 11 months he wanted to come home,
only to find his bosses wouldn't pay his wages.
Without any papers, he had no recourse.
Russian law is not humane towards migrants.
They are given 3 days to register.
If they do not register within 3 days from their arrival, they are arrested and put
into special detention.
The Russians treat them like common criminals.
Migrants have been held in detention
for up to six months, before being deported.
And since the vast majority of the Tajiks work in Russia illegally, they're easy prey
for corrupt
policemen.