BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 5
Trend:
A briefing of the press-service of the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan was held on July 5, Trend reports referring to the Uzbek media.
During the briefing, press-secretary of the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sherzod Asadov briefly spoke about the events of the past week.
The president held a meeting on the further development of copper production and the creation of an industrial cluster on June 28.
Then the president outlined the requirement for copper not to be sold simply as raw material, but to be processed into a product with added value.
Today, about 60 percent of copper is exported as a raw material. The revenues as a result of the sale of copper reach $2.5 billion.
In the case of increasing copper production up to 400,000 tons during the next five years, this figure, together with related sectors, may reach $7-8 billion.
In accordance with the data, up to six new jobs per each job created in the copper industry thanks to the cluster method can be created in such related sectors as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and engineering. That is, the number of jobs will increase by six times.
For this purpose, a copper industry cluster is being created in accordance with the presidential decree. It will cover all processes beginning from design and ending with the finished product manufacturing.
“At the same time, the exploration work will continue,” Asadov said. “At the meeting, the leader of our country instructed to develop a five-year program to expand the exploration of non-ferrous and rare metals.”