Medical cluster based on Korean experience to appear in Namangan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A new structure recently created at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan - the National Chamber of Innovative Health, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Korean Gold Dream Foundation, envisaging the creation of a medical cluster in the Namangan region.

According to the document, the cluster will include a medical clinic, a center for training and retraining medical specialists and a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant that meets international standards.

Direct investments of the Korean side in the project will amount to US$80 million.

The memorandum was signed on January 3, 2019 by Rovshan Izamov, Chairman of the National Chamber of Innovative Healthcare of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Park Yonkhvan, President of the Gold Dream Foundation.

The third party of the memorandum is the Uzbek-Korean joint venture Gold Dream Ltd represented by its head Ibrohim Ergashev.

“This is the first contract of the National Chamber with an international investor and it is important that this is a serious project in a cluster format, which by international standards implies a full cycle - production, service and training. In this case, we are talking about a large pharmaceutical factory, the opening of a private medical educational institution and a medical clinic,” Rovshan Izamov commented.

At the same time, the new state structure acts as a guarantor in compliance with the conditions stipulated by the legislation of Uzbekistan for the work of foreign investors, including benefits and preferences.

The success of this project aimed at innovative development of health care, according to R. Izamov, will also be a signal for action for a number of foreign investors who are interested in projects in this area. This means that innovative medical clusters that operate at the level of international standards may appear in other regions of Uzbekistan. The center in Namangan will certainly become regional for the Fergana Valley, whose doctors will have the opportunity to retrain to work in clinics with foreign participation. Such an opportunity will also be an incentive for the development of a healthy competitive environment among medical professionals, and therefore another step towards improving the medical care of the population.

 “As for the future of the plant for the production of pharmaceuticals, it is very important that the Korean side will take into account the priority of those drugs that are important for saturating the domestic market of the Republic of Uzbekistan. This flexible approach of investors will ensure that the new production has an important social function,” the chairman of the National Chamber of Innovative Health said.

During the creation of the cluster, the Korean side envisages serious work on training specialists for work in a medical clinic. It is planned that the selected local doctors will be sent for an internship in the Republic of Korea, in particular, at the Clinic of Chonnam National University. Later, partial training in Korean clinics can also be provided for students of the medical educational institution of the cluster, who at the end will receive an international diploma.