Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 30 April, a video conference was held under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on measures for the development of local industry in the regions.

Building materials, furniture, household goods, clothing and foodstuffs are the most popular types of products among the population. It is easy and inexpensive to master their release. In addition, such production stimulates the development of industry in rural areas and, therefore, the provision of employment for the population.

For example, over the past three years, the volume of production of building materials in the country has increased by 1.5 times. However, the current volume and range of products still do not meet domestic demand. In 2020, nearly US$1 billion worth of construction materials were imported.

Many houses, factories and enterprises, social facilities are being built in our country. This increases the demand for both building materials and products from related industries.

In this regard, the meeting discussed the development of local industry and production growth.

- You can see for yourself that today a difficult situation reigns in the world economy. It is difficult for everyone. Therefore, we must use the available opportunities, achieve results, fairly conveying to the people everything that we get by honest labor. The development of local industry is also the competence of khokims. If you work wisely, thoughtfully, you can realize the potential inherent here - this is a lot of jobs, and the benefit of entrepreneurs, and the well-being of the population, said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The need to organize work in this direction along the chain "study of domestic demand - analysis of imports - determination of the resource base - development of new projects" was indicated.

The Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade was instructed to develop, in the context of regions, separate programs for the development of local industry, including the sectors of building materials, textiles, silkworm breeding, pharmaceuticals, electrical engineering, the production of leather and footwear, jewelry, porcelain products, furniture, as well as the food industry.

The head of state supported the proposal to specialize 24 districts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and regions in the production of building materials. It was instructed to organize new enterprises in these regions, using the existing raw material base and infrastructure of large factories. It was decided to allocate an additional 400 billion soums from the budget to improve infrastructure in these regions, and another 100 billion soums will be allocated for geological surveys.

In the building materials industry, more than a thousand new projects worth US$5 billion have been formed. It is planned to create more than 25 thousand jobs.

"Uzpromstroybank" proposed to open a credit line for these projects for 300 million dollars, to provide entrepreneurs with practical assistance through consulting centers in the branches of the bank. The President instructed to allocate an additional US$200 million from the state budget through this bank.

It was noted that guarantees for the amount of up to 15 billion soums will be issued for projects for the production of new types of construction and finishing products. In addition, such producers will be reimbursed for payments on loans in national currency in the part exceeding 10 percent of the Central Bank rate, as well as 50 percent of the rate on foreign loans.

At the same time, producers operating in rural industrial zones, as well as developers of deposits and quarries, will be able to count on a reduction in the size of the land tax by up to 10 times.

It was noted that these opportunities will make it possible to increase the production of building materials by 40 percent, expand the range of products and replace imports.

The most effective way is to analyze the structure of imports entering the region or city and produce these products in the region.

For example, over the past two years, about 6 thousand apartment buildings have been built, almost 30 percent of the materials used in their construction were imported from abroad. For each of about 100 thousand apartments, which are planned to be built this year, electrical equipment, furniture, kitchen utensils and other household goods for at least 20-30 million soums will be required.

Therefore, the responsible persons were instructed to increase the number of projects for the localization of in-demand goods based on the analysis of market demand, to rationally place such goods in industrial zones in the regions.

Similarly to the regions with a specialization in building materials, the importance of identifying regions with an in-depth development of the production of other types of industrial goods, the implementation of new projects in them was emphasized.

Industrial cooperation is also very important for the development of local industry. In particular, about a thousand contracts worth 376 billion soums were signed last week at an industrial fair in Navoi.

It was noted that such events should be held in the Republic of Karakalpakstan and each region.

The quality of the products of the local industry must meet the market requirements This ensures its competitiveness and stability of the enterprise.

In this regard, the Agency "Uzstandard" was tasked with organizing modern laboratories in 24 specialized regions and training manufacturers in international requirements and quality standards.

From 1 July 2021, enterprises producing new types of building materials will be reimbursed 50 percent of the costs associated with the implementation of international standards. Also, the list of construction products subject to mandatory certification will be reduced by 3 times.

The meeting also discussed the issue of providing local industry with qualified personnel, since the lack of modern engineers and technologists at the local level impedes the development of the industry.

Therefore, the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education was instructed to develop, together with foreign universities, joint programs for the training of engineers and technologists, taking into account the needs of the regions.

Deputy Prime Ministers, heads of industries and regions presented information on the issues discussed at the meeting.