06.09.2021

On September 6 President Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with a presentation on the accomplished work and promising projects in the pharmaceutical industry.

The huge potential of the domestic pharmaceutical sector has not been fully used before. In recent years, the industry has been identified as one of the drivers and is consistently developing.

By the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of May 3, 2017, the free economic zones specialized in pharmaceuticals were established in Nukus, Zaamin, Kasansay, Syrdarya, Baysun, Bostanlyk and Parkent districts. By the Resolution of November 7 of 2017, the Agency for the Development of Pharmaceutical Industry at the Ministry of Health was established. The extensive conditions have been created for the cultivation and processing of medicinal plants, attracting investment and producing competitive products.

As a result, 71 new enterprises have been created over the past five years. The production of more than 2,5 thousand types of medicines, 241 types of medical devices and 78 types of medical equipment has been established. The volume of pharmaceutical production has almost doubled.

However, it was noted at the event that these results were not enough. Today, domestic enterprises meet only 55% of the needs of the domestic market in physical terms.

In the next five years, it is planned to increase production in the industry to 3 times and bring the indicator of providing the domestic market by 80% in physical terms. For this purpose, promising projects for 2022-2026 have been developed.

The information about these projects was presented at the presentation.

Thus, it is planned to implement 104 investment projects for $1,25 billion. As a result, it is expected to create capacities for the production of import-substituting products for $376 million and the export of goods for $84 million. Most importantly, it is planned to provide about 9 thousand people with work.

Stressing the social and economic significance of these projects, the President instructed to accelerate their implementation.

A special attention was paid to the cultivation and processing of local medicinal plants.

The medicinal plants of 750 species grow on the territory of Uzbekistan. All conditions are created for the production of natural products based on them, which are in demand in the world market. In particular, the Presidential Resolution of April 10, 2020 defines the additional measures for the protection, as well as cultural cultivation and processing of wild medicinal plants, some districts are specialized in the cultivation of medicinal plants. The 19 enterprises have been launched in this direction.

However, only 70 out of 750 types of medical plants are actively used by manufacturers.

The President has noted that the deep processing of medicinal plants can bring exports to $15 million and provide jobs for more than 5 thousand people in the country. The responsible executives were instructed to expand production by creating the industry clusters.

Along with this, the need was noted for paying a special attention to the allocation of land for the cultivation of medicinal plants, the development of seed production and processing, training agronomists, formation of a consumer market for such plants.

Another major project is the Innovative Research and Production Pharmaceutical Cluster «Tashkent Pharma Park». The modern center, which was organized by the Presidential Resolution of January 28, 2020, is being built in Tashkent Region’s Zangiata District. In particular, a pharmaceutical university, a pharmacopoeia center, a research center, an expertise center, laboratories, a vivarium, a scientific and experimental production building are being built.

It is planned to implement another 7 investment projects for $140 million.

The prospects for the production of biopharmaceuticals were also discussed at the presentation.

Although Uzbekistan’s enterprises produce medicines of more than 3 thousand brands, they are mainly single-component, simple drugs.

In this regard, the President noted the importance of organizing the production of innovative biotechnological drugs: oncological, hormonal, blood products and vaccines.

The importance of stimulating the production of domestic pharmaceutical products through public procurement in the healthcare system, simplifying the certification of products, which were manufactured in accordance with international standards, was noted.

The instructions were given for the development of cooperation between scientific institutions and industrial enterprises for training qualified specialists.

The task was set to develop a program for further development of the industry.