Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Kongratbai Sharipov met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland to the Republic of Uzbekistan with residence in Helsinki, Räisänen Ilkka. The honorary consul of Finland in Uzbekistan Alisher Juraev also attended the meeting.

The Minister especially emphasized the significance and depth of bilateral relations between Finland and the Republic of Uzbekistan, which were established more than three decades ago and have only strengthened since then and developed: "Our cooperation in the educational field demonstrates the impetus for innovation and joint development. The implementation of double degree programs and exchange projects for students and teachers is only the beginning of our journey towards creating a powerful educational network between Finland and Uzbekistan."

Mr. Ambassador, in turn, emphasized the importance of education in Uzbekistan said that the reforms carried out by your president deserve praise. Innovation connects our countries, and we have to implement many projects together in this regard. Our goal is to further develop our cooperation in the field of innovation and science.

The parties noted that these programs not only promote cultural exchange, but also prepare qualified specialists who can contribute to the development of our countries.

Ambassador Ilkka Räisänen made a proposal to continue the wastewater treatment project started last year in cooperation with the Ministry's Agency for Innovative Development. Let us recall that specialists from the Agency for Innovative Development under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, JSC Almalyk MMC, together with Nordic University in Tashkent and the company EPSE OY, held negotiations on the issues of processing wastewater from the mining and metallurgical industry of Uzbekistan. As a result of negotiations, samples of wastewater from the Copper Smelting and Zinc Plants of Almalyk MMC JSC were sent to the Finnish company for laboratory tests. As a result of laboratory tests, the content of metals and other elements in water samples was significantly reduced using the company's new chemical reagent.

Minister K. Sharipov highly appreciated the importance of the project and drew attention to the fact that its launch could be implemented in the future not only in mining, but also in the textile, leather industry and other industries. The parties agreed to work together to launch this pilot project in May of this year.

The parties also agreed to jointly work on the issue of introducing the Central Asian SLUSH festival, which is held annually in Finland, as part of the annual InnoWeek week in Uzbekistan, and to attract young entrepreneurs from all over Central Asia to it.