Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 6 May, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a meeting on the development of the electrotechnical industry.

Over the past five years, US$465 million has been invested in the industry and 163 new projects have been launched. Production increased 4 times, exports – 3 times. Most importantly, the number of jobs doubled and reached 32 thousand.

At the same time, there are many untapped opportunities in the sphere. The Development Strategy of the New Uzbekistan aims to double the production of electrotechnical products and triple exports by 2026.

Important tasks in this direction were discussed at the meeting.

In particular, 86 projects worth US$250 million are planned to be launched this year. The Head of the state noted the need for studying people’s needs and composition of imports, the production of relevant products, and the formation of new projects in the regions.

New deposits are being discovered and copper reserves are expanding in Uzbekistan. According to calculations, copper production will increase by 2 times in the coming years. Following this, processing capacities of 90 thousand tons of copper will be created within the framework of 12 projects worth US$168 million in the new copper cluster in Akhangaran district. Enterprises participating in this cluster will be allowed to purchase copper under long-term contracts at a discount to exchange prices.

The President gave instructions on the organizational and financial aspects of the work of this cluster.

As is known, alternative energy is developing in Uzbekistan. New projects in this area require components of at least US$1 billion. With this in mind, it is necessary to expand the localization of components.

The task was set to develop a special program for the installation of water heating systems in social institutions and street lighting based on alternative energy sources.

The industry has great export potential. So, neighboring countries annually purchase electrical products worth billions of dollars. However, the share of goods produced in Uzbekistan in their imports is small.

It was noted that the export of the industry could be brought to US$700 million this year and up to US$1 billion next year. To this end, it was instructed to establish a processing system in the customs territory using the example of household appliances.

To introduce innovations into the industry and expand exports, it is planned to allocate 20 billion UZS to the Electrotechnical Fund.

The importance of preventing low-quality products from entering the domestic market, as well as the introduction of a labeling system for household appliances, was noted.

Instructions were given on the organization of the Design and Engineering Center under the Uzeltechsanoat Association as well as research and development centers at Electroapparat, Technopark, Artel and Uzkabel companies, attracting qualified foreign and local specialists.

Issues of personnel training were touched upon at the meeting. In the next three years, the industry will require 4,000 specialists with higher education and 14,000 workers with secondary education.

The Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education was instructed to review and improve the electrical engineering training programs. It was decided to assign Tashkent Radiotechnical College, Samarkand and Chirchiq Technical Service Colleges, and Fergana Electrotechnical College to Uzeltechsanoat Association.