On November 20, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev familiarized himself with a presentation on the development of the construction materials sector.
Over the past eight years, the population of our country has increased by 6 million people. Accordingly, the scale of construction of new houses, roads, and social infrastructure facilities is expanding. During the past period, 210 million square meters of residential and non-residential spaces were commissioned. 565 thousand households were built for the population, which is 10 times more than in previous years.
Great opportunities have also been created for the construction materials industry. Its volume has increased 4 times over the last eight years, and is expected to reach 53 trillion soums this year, with exports reaching 1.1 billion dollars.
Most importantly, this sector has become a major "driver" industry that creates jobs and sources of income in districts of Surkhandarya, Syrdarya, Khorezm, and Jizzakh regions that previously had no industry.
At the same time, it was noted that problems related to product quality, compliance with standards, logistics issues, and entering new markets persist in the sector.
In particular, despite the existence of large enterprises producing PVC pipes, fittings, facing stone, and construction glass, it was pointed out that these products were imported in large volumes in 2024.
The presentation outlined the main plans for the future.
Specifically, it is planned to implement 112 projects worth 2.4 billion dollars in the sector, creating 13.5 thousand jobs through them. Another 5 large projects worth 110 million dollars, which are of strategic importance, will be implemented. The task has been set to increase the project portfolio to 3.5 billion dollars in the coming years.
Our President emphasized that these projects must be developed based on the existing reserves, raw material base, and logistical capabilities of each region and district.
Neighboring countries have a construction materials market of over 4 billion dollars. Furthermore, there is an opportunity to sharply increase the export of 9 types of products to 26 countries.
Officials were tasked with fully utilizing the export potential of regions and sectors, actively promoting entry into foreign markets, and increasing the production of export-oriented materials.
The presentation also addressed issues of efficient use of kaolin reserves. It was noted that despite having over 1 billion tons of kaolin in our country, millions of dollars worth of porcelain are imported annually. Therefore, it is planned to implement 40 projects worth 515 million dollars for the deep processing of kaolin and train 460 specialists next year.
Special attention was also paid to the issue of improving energy efficiency in the sector.
To date, energy audits conducted at 34 enterprises have resulted in a reduction in the amount of fuel consumed for product manufacturing.
The task was set to systematically continue this work, expand the range of energy-saving products being manufactured, and increase the share of energy-efficient and ecological products used in construction to 25 percent by next year and to 35 percent by 2030.
The importance of science in improving product quality and safety, and the necessity of making broader use of the expertise of our scientists, was emphasized.
In this regard, 4 scientific projects are being implemented in collaboration with the Tashkent Institute of Chemical Technology, with scientists from Germany, Korea, and Turkey involved. To strengthen the integration of practice and science, it was decided to allocate 30 billion soums starting next year to finance scientific projects in the field of construction materials.
It was emphasized that by widely implementing digital management and artificial intelligence technologies in enterprises, the prime cost can be reduced by 5-10 percent. To increase the number of enterprises implementing such systems, it was decided to allocate 100 billion soums over two years.
In the process of our country's accession to the World Trade Organization, the construction materials sector is also being aligned with international requirements. During the past period, 125 international standards were adopted in this regard. The importance of increasing this number to 166 by 2026 was noted.
Our President gave specific instructions to officials on implementing the outlined plans, expanding the production of high-quality products that meet international standards, and increasing export potential.
