Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- United Nations Development Programme in Uzbekistan within “Support to Foreign Trade and Investment Promotion in Uzbekistan” project and in partnership with “Uzinfoinvest” agency under the Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade and Uzbek State Joint Stock Concern of Pharmaceutical Industry “UZPHARMSANOAT” has elaborated Investment Guide to the Pharmaceutical Industry of Uzbekistan.

The publication provides information on development of pharmaceutical industry in Uzbekistan and business opportunities available in order to facilitate inflow of foreign investments into this sector.

There are huge prospects of development of pharmaceutical industry as an important innovative dimension of Uzbek economy. Uzbekistan has certain comparative advantages for development pharmaceuticals production, in particular:

• availability of research base and domestic experience of manufacturing substances and medications;
• existence of research institutions involved in development of medical drugs, chemistry, genetics, etc., the efforts, which require major coordination, development base of clinical testing, and reinforcement of international cooperation;
• availability of research staff, capable of research work for development of new medical drugs as well as human resources training system, which could also be involved in research efforts;
• relatively low cost of development of new medications because of low costs, compared to developed countries, main factors of their production.
• rich natural plant world of Uzbekistan: 138 families, 1023 genera, and 4,500 species, of which 1,150 species are considered to be medicinal plants. Officially more than 100 medicinal plant species are included in the pharmacopeia, which enables to produce original medications and biologically active additives using local raw materials;
• opportunities for coordinated management of research, health system, regulating operations of pharmaceutical companies.
• Development of pharmaceutical industry enables Uzbekistan to address a number of vital social objectives related to public health.

The country features high natural demographic growth rates, which total 1-1.5% per annum according to the projections. Approximately 615,000 newborns are expected annually in the next five years, whereas, 607,800 are expected annually in 2015-2020, and 596,700 annually in 2020-2025. Also absolute growth of the number of the elderly is expected thanks to the improvement of health services and better living standards. These factors lead to higher demand for medications essential for treatment of pediatric diseases, mandatory vaccination of newborns and children, and treatment of diseases typical for the elderly – cardiovascular, oncological, and neurological diseases.

Today the pharmaceutical market of Uzbekistan totals approximately US$500 million and features quite high growth rates, approximately 10% per annum. Along with aforementioned demographic factors, improving public welfare and changes in the preferences, further sustainable development of the sector is expected. Provided that domestic demand grows 10-15 percent annually, the market may exceed US$1 billion in nearest years.

Notably the priorities of the Government of Uzbekistan, focused on comprehensive modernization of health system, the main consumer of the market of medical drugs and health products unveil new opportunities for investing into this sector.

Today over 1,000 inpatient health institutions, 4,000 polyclinics and outpatient institutions, 501 rural outpatient posts, 2,606 rural health clinics (RHC) and other health institutions are providing qualified public health services.

Thus, along with demographic growth, longer life expectancy, and increasing aging of population, and advancement of public health system, inter alia, thanks to the growth of health institutions, the need for medical drugs is increasing. Thus, the pharmaceutical sector has major development prospects.