Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on 28 November on further support for production and increasing export potential in the pharmaceutical and electrical industries.

Our country has the necessary raw materials and sufficient conditions for the development of these industries. In particular, over the past six years, pharmaceutical production has increased 3 times, exports - 6 times. 177 projects worth US$525 million were launched, and a total of 50 thousand jobs were created.

However, this does not correspond to the existing potential. Thus, medicines worth US$1.6 billion are consumed annually in the country. The share of domestic producers is only 18 percent, the rest is provided by imports.

In this regard, special attention at the meeting was paid to the development of local production.

- In recent years, this industry has received great support and large funds have been allocated, pharmaceutical zones have been created. But they are not fully used. It is necessary to expand localization, support the projects of entrepreneurs, and ensure the purchase of their products. This is based on jobs and people’s satisfaction, said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

In this regard, the importance of studying foreign experience and attracting famous brands to our country was emphasized. In particular, instructions were given to increase localization to 35 percent by organizing the production of the 50 most commonly consumed drugs in the country.

The need to accelerate the construction of the Tashkent Pharma Park cluster and attract a private partner to it was emphasized. Also, pharmaceutical companies will be provided with assistance in the transition to the international GMP standard and the creation of a labeling system.

In general, the industry has formed 173 projects worth US$1.5 billion. US$600 million will be allocated to finance them.

Responsible officials said that as a result of the implementation of the projects, production worth US$400 million and exports worth US$160 million will be established in 2024.

Issues related to the electrical industry were also discussed at the meeting.

Over the past six years, 224 projects worth US$640 million have been launched in this area. Exports are expected to reach US$1 billion by the end of this year.

At the same time, electrical products worth US$800 million are imported into our country annually. Overall, our region has a US$3 billion market.

To take a worthy place in this market, it is necessary to establish cooperation with prestigious brands and produce competitive products. This will be a major focus of 141 projects worth US$2 billion planned for next year.

This year, 2 gigawatts of solar and wind power plants will be commissioned, and another 4 gigawatts in 2024. They need a lot of cables, generators, inverters, transformers. The task has been set to localize these products and obtain international quality certificates.

It has been determined that US$100 million will be allocated for government support for the introduction of advanced technologies, innovations and international standards in the field.

Those in charge reported plans to increase production by 20 percent next year and increase the volume of copper processing to 140,000 tons. It was also noted that there is an opportunity to increase exports to US$1.5 billion, and in 2025 - to US$2 billion.

At the meeting, proposals from regional khokims and entrepreneurs for the development of the discussed industries were heard.