The coronavirus pandemic is causing great damage to national economies. According to forecasts of the International Monetary Fund, this year the global economy expects a decline of at least 3 percent.

In this difficult time all reserves are involved to maintain the economy and incomes of the population at a stable level in Uzbekistan. Separate measures are being worked out for each industry. Heads of the Presidential Administration, government, ministries and agencies are assigned for 128 large manufacturing enterprises to assist them and quickly solve their problems.

Chemical industry enterprises, along with preservation of existing facilities, have all the opportunities for introduction of new industries. However, the current state of affairs in the industry has been criticized.

It was noted that this year it is planned to release products for 9 trillion UZS and export for $280 million. To achieve these goals, JSC Uzkimyosanoat should promote enterprises of the industry and increase production of demanded products.

In particular, the task was set to increase the capacity of the enterprise for production of polyvinyl chloride in JSC Navoiazot to 90 percent in the coming month and put into operation a project for production of nitric acid.

Due to the current epidemiological situation, the demand for cleaning and disinfecting agents has increased. In particular, orders for 2 thousand tons of hypochlorites were received from neighboring countries. The demand for cyanides, which are important for mining and metallurgical industry, is also growing.

In this regard, instructions were given for full use of opportunities, development of new projects to increase production volumes and modernize capacities.

The importance of reducing transportation costs to increase the competitiveness of domestic products on the foreign market, to improve the convenience of transporting goods by rail, having agreed with foreign partners, was noted.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited Tashkent Agricultural Equipment Plant on July 12 last year and discussed industry problems with experts. Taking into account the results of that meeting and the results of the analysis, a resolution of the Head of the state was adopted on July 31 “On measures to accelerate the development of agricultural engineering, state support for provision of the agricultural sector with agricultural machinery”. Over the past time, some work has been implemented in this direction.

At the meeting, the need was noted for developing a system of working with clients to facilitate the acquisition of equipment, providing farmers with appropriate credit benefits. Agrotechsanoatholding was tasked to introduce a system for selling agricultural equipment based on an electronic order.

The quality and price of domestic equipment was criticized. It was noted that according to these indicators, it is not able to compete with foreign counterparts. The high cost of technology affects the price of agricultural products.

In this regard, instructions were given to optimize the production process based on analysis of equipment prices, accelerate the commissioning of metal-foundry capacities and increase the level of localization.

Tasks were set to accelerate the mechanization of cotton picking, deliver at least 1 thousand cotton picking machines to places by September this year, and organize service centers in all regions.

In the world, the auto industry has become one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic.

In such conditions, it is necessary to take advantage of possibilities, first of all, of the domestic market, for stable operation of enterprises.

So, the market of spare parts and components in Uzbekistan is estimated at 500 million dollars. However, the share of locally produced products in this market is only 9 percent.

JSC Uzavtosanoat was tasked to ensure the localization of 300 types of components imported from abroad by the end of the year and setting up their production in a quality not inferior to foreign analogues.

Instructions were given on development of new models and on stimulation of commercial banks issuing car loans.

It was noted that expanding the production of special equipment at Samauto and MAN plants and mastering production of new types demanded by the agricultural industry will give a good result.

The issue of increasing exports of automotive products was also considered. The importance of quality control through digitalization of the entire chain from production processes to sales and services, increasing confidence in products, ensuring openness and transparency was emphasized.

Information on the issues discussed at the meeting was provided by officials of the chemical, agrotechnical and automotive industries, heads of large enterprises.