Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, on 3 December, a video conference was held on the priority tasks facing higher educational institutions, scientific organizations, industries and regions in the development of science and innovation.

In our country, special attention is paid to the development of science. Over the past four years, 28 scientific organizations and 4 innovative technoparks have been created. The head of state met several times with scientists and researchers, resolved all the issues raised by them. The salaries of scientists have tripled. Considerable funds have been allocated to update the material and technical base of organizations in the sphere.

In general, all material and organizational conditions are created for the development of science. However, as noted at the meeting, no significant shifts have occurred in the activities of more than 100 specialized organizations. For example, last year 24 institutions did not publish a single scientific article in reputable international journals. The Ministry of Innovative Development fails to create an integral system and environment in which science and production closely interact with each other.

Despite the fact that 100 billion soums were allocated from the budget for innovative developments, only 51 projects worth 29 billion soums were formed as a result of competitions. Last year, 33 scientific institutes of the Academy of Sciences system received only 59 patents.

The level of research in higher educational institutions is very low, the effect of the activities of the vice-rectors of universities for science and innovation is not felt at all.

- What is the state of interaction between universities, research organizations, industries and regions? Today this issue is on the agenda. Unfortunately, the interaction is not at the proper level, - said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

At the video conference, the topical directions of ensuring cooperation between science and industry, the formation of orders for scientific institutes were outlined.

In particular, they emphasized the special demand for developments aimed at increasing productivity in agriculture, the effective specialization of territories, and the creation of products with high added value. The unsatisfactory state of work on the creation of varieties of crops suitable for the climate of the regions, the production of high-quality seeds was stated. Over the past two years, the country has imported seedlings and seeds worth US$108 million. This year, the import of seed potatoes alone has doubled compared to last year.

In this regard, it was noted that the formation of private seed enterprises in the regions should be promoted, commercial varieties should be imported from abroad and seed brands should be created adapted to local conditions. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Innovative Development have been instructed to establish the production of new generation hybrid seeds and organize seed laboratories.

Scientific innovations will help solve problems in the field of water resources management as well. In particular, the use of water-saving technologies for irrigation is expanding. However, there is no scientifically based understanding of how to properly apply fertilizer, what are the optimal watering times and maintenance times. The work on the implementation of the results of research on sprinkling is stalled.

In this regard, it was instructed to establish joint ventures in Namangan, Samarkand, Kashkadarya and Tashkent regions to service water-saving systems.

The importance of attracting not only foreign specialists, but also domestic scientists to the design of irrigation facilities built at the expense of foreign financial institutions is pointed out. For example, in Karakalpakstan, a US$215 million water management project has allocated US$8 million for research alone.

The necessity of redesigning irrigation facilities, proper planning of water resources on the basis of the Research Center for Water Problems, organized in Khorezm region, was emphasized.

Scientific advances are extremely important for the chemical and oil and gas industries. The fact that Uzbekistan imports large quantities of chemicals, polymers and other products clearly shows the situation in this direction.

In this regard, the task was set to create, on the basis of foreign experience, a center for deep processing of oil and natural gas and the production of products with high added value. The importance of placing orders for scientific institutes for the manufacture of reagents necessary for the chemical industry, as well as the allocation of grants for their production, was emphasized.

One more question - about 3 billion tons of industrial waste have accumulated at the Navoi and Almalyk mining and metallurgical plants. When recycling 20 million tons of waste annually, you can extract 2 tons of gold, 8 tons of silver, 10 thousand tons of copper and rare metals such as tungsten and molybdenum. The responsible persons have been given specific instructions in this regard.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev paid special attention to the problems in the energy sector.

3 universities, 2 scientific organizations, dozens of scientists are engaged in scientific research in this direction, however, tangible results in solving energy problems have not been achieved. Research aimed at analyzing the consumption of fuel and energy resources at large enterprises is not being conducted.

For example, a study of the activities of the Tashkent Pipe Plant, which consumes 100 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, showed that by optimizing the processes, 20 million kilowatt-hours of energy could be saved, which could be used to supply electricity to many households.

In view of this, the task was set to optimize, with the involvement of scientific organizations, the consumption of electricity at such large enterprises as Issiklik Electr Stantsalari, Navoiazot, Ferganaazot, Kyzylkumcement, Bekabadcement, Kuvasaycement.

In addition, the annual volume of secondary gases generated in the gas transmission system and at large industrial enterprises has an electric power potential of 730 megawatts. This resource is not used in any way. As a result, the need was noted to develop, together with scientific organizations, projects for the production of electricity from associated gas at the Mubarek, Shurtan and Gazli fields.

The meeting indicated that the domestic pharmaceutical industry is dependent on the import of substances. At the same time, Uzbekistan has sufficient scientific potential for their production. For example, the Institute of Plant Chemistry has exported US$4 million worth of substances over the past two years to Russia, the USA and France. It was instructed to create at the institute a special laboratory for the study of the composition and standardization of medicinal plants, a center for preclinical research, to provide grants to scientists.

- It is necessary to understand one thing: without science, without innovation, we will never achieve our goals. We need to work not for accountability, but for results, the President said.

It was noted that, in cooperation with foreign clinics, it is necessary to establish liver, kidney, and bone marrow transplantation operations at the Republican Specialized Scientific and Practical Medical Center for Surgery, and innovative heart operations at the Republican Center of Cardiology.

For the integration of science and industry, the potential of technoparks should be widely used, it was noted at the meeting. Relevant instructions have been given to higher educational institutions, research institutes and the Ministry of Innovative Development.

At the meeting, heads of scientific organizations and higher educational institutions, industries and regions presented information on scientific projects scheduled for next year and on expected results.