Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Minister of Innovative Development Ibrohim Abdurakhmonov held online negotiations with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Uzbekistan Ms. Jiang Yan.

The Ministry of Innovative Development, being an authorized body for the introduction of innovations in public administration and the real sector of the economy of Uzbekistan, is actively working to develop and expand interaction in scientific and technical cooperation with China. In turn, bilateral scientific and technical interaction between Uzbekistan and China is carried out within the framework of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on cooperation in the field of science and technology from 1 November 2019.

Within the framework of agreements with the Ministry of Science and Technology of the PRC, a competition was announced on 17 September 2019. Some 61 projects were adopted, 55 of which passed technical expertise. The 20 best projects approved by the Uzbek and Chinese sides will be financed for a total of 20 billion soums.

In accordance with the signed Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology from 1 November 2019, the Ministry of Innovative Development has developed a draft Program for the implementation of this agreement. It includes 11 points aimed at developing cooperation with Chinese partners in the fields of science, energy, biotechnology, agriculture, medicine and others. The visit of the Uzbek delegation headed by the Minister of Innovative Development was planned in the first quarter of 2020. Given the epidemiological situation, the issue of organizing this visit has been postponed for an indefinite period, but the Ambassador emphasized that as soon as the quarantine restrictions are lifted, the Chinese side is ready to immediately accept the Uzbek delegation.

Shakhlo Turdikulova, director of the Center for Advanced Technologies under the Ministry of Innovative Development, also took part in the negotiations. She spoke about the test system developed by Uzbek scientists to detect coronavirus infection, the release of which has been established at the production site at the Center. Opportunities for cooperation in the field of vaccine development by Uzbek scientists were discussed. Turdikulova also said that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Shanghai Science and Technology Exchange Center in June this year. And together with the Xinjiang Institute of Physics and Chemical Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it is planned to create an Uzbek-Chinese joint laboratory "Biotechnology and New Materials", within which joint research will be carried out.

Abdurakhmonov also noted that cooperation between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Uzbekistan is expanding in the field of innovative technology parks. Thus, work is underway to implement an investment project to create an Uzbek-Chinese medical technopark, which is working on the synthesis of drugs in the Navoi region.

Ms. Jiang Yan, in turn, announced her readiness to provide all kinds of support in the framework of the implementation of the Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology.