Миллий маъруза - 2022 й.

Table 1.9 Top 10 countries providing grant funds indicated in the publications of authors from Uzbekistan Country Number of publications in WoC CC China 660 USA 534 Belgium * 523 Brazil 436 Germany 389 Russia 315 Great Britain 284 India 259 France 224 Turkey 200 *По данным WoS CC (включая ESCI) 26.07.2021 г. Table 1.10 Top 10 grant funds indicated in the publications of authors from Uzbekistan Number of Grant funds publications in WoC Country CC China Belgium National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 304 Russia European Commission 179 China Great Britain Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) 162 Germany Chinese Academy of Sciences 134 USA UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) 127 Germany Great Britain German Research Foundation (DFG) 117 Brazil National Science Foundation (NSF) 110 Alexander von Humboldt Foundation 103 Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) 103 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e 103 Tecnologico (CNPQ) *According to the WoS CC (inclusive) 26.07.2021 As a universal classification that allows comparing the dynamics of publications between two citation indexes the core The Fields of Research and Development (FORD) [Frascati manual] Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)was used. Six areas are arranged according to the interests of the objects under study: natural sciences – the study of nature, technical sciences – the study of means of changing the world, medicine – human health, agricultural sciences – nutrition, social – human interaction, humanities – the study of the inner world of man. Despite the small number of categories, the categorization of the results obtained and the funds allocated makes it possible to guarantee that all the results compared from the stage of receiving money to application in industry with sufficient reliability for management purposes will be assigned to one category. This property is a prerequisite for the development and evaluation of the effectiveness of sound research policies. There is a multiple increase in the number of publications on all FORD OECD topics, and the high growth in the field of social and humanitarian knowledge is 300

explained by the low starting base in the previous five years. Note that the shares of publications in journals that have been assigned an impact factor are comparable and quite high. In the field of social sciences, a low indicator is a feature of the field, and in the field of humanities it is not given, since the impact factor is not assigned for journals in this field. The results of the distribution of WoS CC publications by FORD OECD topics with the values of the average number of citations per publication in the subject area, the number of cited publications, Category Normalized Citation Impact (CNCI) and the number of highly Cited publications (Highly Cited Papers) are presented in Table 1.11. Despite the fact that there is more than one citation per publication in all fields except the humanities, the CNCI indicator – citations normalized by area and year of publication are below one everywhere, which means that publications scored fewer citations than the global average in the same fields in the same year of publication. Citations in the field of humanities will always be low due to the specifics of the subject area, however, it is lower than the average citation of publications in this field in the world. It should be noted that the number of publications that are included in the 1% of the most cited Papers in the world (Highly Cited Papers) in this year is also low and amounts to 0.47% of all publications of Uzbek scientists. Table 1.11 Distribution of WoS CC publications and their citations, by quartile and by FORD OECD topics Web of Highly Themes Science CNCI Cited С IF Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Documents Papers 1 NATURAL 773 (+69) 0,75 564 174 161 98 131 SCIENCES (+0,23) 3 (+1) (63,7%, (59,8%, (59,0%, (73,7%, (69,3%, +123) +43) +52) +15) +13) 2 ENGINEERING 247 (-52) 0,44 1 (+) 160 41 48 30 41 AND (+0,07) (18,1%, (14,1%, (17,6%, (22,6%, (21,7%, TECHNOLOGY +40) +9) +7) +16) +8) 3 MEDICAL AND 0,49 280 107 94 18 61 HEALTH (-0,43) SCIENCES 321 (-40) 2 (+1) (31,6%, (36,8%, (34,4%, (13,5%, (32,3%, -52) -148) +75) -4) +25) 4 AGRICULTURAL 0,85 50 27 13 2 8 AND (+0,22) (5,6%, (9,3%, 63 (-9) 0 (-1) +14) (4,8%, (1,5%, - (4,2%, VETERINARY +7) SCIENCES +3) 14) +4) 5 SOCIAL 140 (+56) 0,84 1 (+1) 50 18 16 10 6 SCIENCES (+0,24) (5,6%, (6,2%, (5,9%, (7,5%, (3,2%) +22) +7) +7) +8) 6 HUMANITIES 31 (-2) 0,91 - AND THE ARTS (-0,09) Total 1309 (+44) 0,69 6 (+2) 886 291 273 133 189 publications (+0,01) ( +75) ( -109) ( +130) ( +21) ( +33) *According to InCites (WoS CC) 26.08.2022 **Data on publications in the field of humanities are not provided. As noted earlier, the impact factor is not calculated and assigned to journals in this area. 301

It should be noted that the publications of Uzbek scientists are made mainly in journals that have been assigned an impact factor, and most often in journals of the first and second quartile. The exception is the journals of social themes, in which scientists do not yet have the experience of publishing similar to those available on the first four topics. 1.1.2 Innovation indicators Short summary: • The number of registered intellectual property objects (hereinafter referred to as IPOs) is growing. Trademarks and software account for the largest share in the volume of registered IPOs: they account for 90% of the total. • The volume of innovative products produced and sold is decreased. Most of the products produced fall on the city of Tashkent and three other regions of the country: Andijan, Samarkand and Tashkent. • In the structure of foreign trade in high- and medium-tech goods, imports consistently exceed exports. In general, the volume of foreign trade in high- and medium-tech goods is growing. The largest share in the turnover is occupied by medium-tech high-level goods. • In terms of foreign trade turnover for categories of technological goods, per 1 USD of exports of high-tech goods accounts for 9 USD of imports. For medium–tech high-level goods, this ratio is 1:6; and for medium-tech low-level goods, it is 1:20. The dynamics of the number of registered IPOs over the observed period is growing (see Figure 1.20). The overall growth in 2021 compared to 2020 was 2.26 times more. The largest share is occupied by OIS registered by national applicants. The IPO is registered in the Republic of Uzbekistan by the origin of the applicants 15%; 1323 16%; 538 85%; 8462 84%; 3791 2020 National Foreign 2021 Figure 1.20 The IPO is registered in the Republic of Uzbekistan by the origin of the applicants *According to the Agency for Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan **The listed OIS include: inventions, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, softwares 302

In the context of the types of IPO, the largest share is occupied by trademarks. Their number has grown 3.3 times over the year, and the share in the total number of registered IPOs has increased by 16 percentage points. The next type of IPO is software (software). The increase in the number of registered software in 2021 compared to 2020 was 1.8 times. The share of software in the total number of registered IPOs decreased by 11 percentage points. The number of registered inventions increased by 7%. Their share in the total number of registered IPOs decreased from 6% to 3%. The number of registered industrial designs increased by 39%. Industrial designs in 2021 occupy the same share in the total number of registered IPOs as in 2020 – 2%. The number of registered utility models has also increased, by 82% over the year. At the same time, there is a decrease in their share in the total number of registered IPOs by 1%. Registered IPO in the Republic of Uzbekistan by type 199 148 298 4291 109 106 278 2377 4849 1459 2021 2020 Inventions Industrial samples Useful models Trademarks Software Figure 1.21 Registered IPO in the Republic of Uzbekistan by type *According to the Agency for Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan The cost of innovation, as statistics show, increased by 2.6 times in 2021 compared to 2020 (see Figure 1.22). 303

Innovation costs in the Republic of Uzbekistan, trillion soums 17,7 6,8 2020 2021 Figure 1.22 Innovation costs in the Republic of Uzbekistan *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan Innovation costs by region, million soums, part 1 2020 2021 +12 169 505 14 808 599 -707 266 -513 572 +27 114 +85 651 -26 099 2 639 094 2 572 151 1 864 885 936 367 422 795 109 239 136 353 5 225 90 875 94 751 68 652 Navoi r. Tashkent city Tashkent region Surkhandarya r. Khorezm r. Ferghana r. Figure 1.23 Innovation costs by regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan, part 1 *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan 304

Innovation costs by region, million soums, part 2 2020 2021 -41 431 +13 862 -3882 -12 879 -37 038 -5481 -99 052 +1386 95 244 120 069 53 813 39 830 49 764 56 443 73 310 28 556 21 017 9 929 53 692 45 882 43 564 36 272 23 075 11 315 Figure 1.24 Innovation costs by regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan, part 2 *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan The total volume of innovative products produced in the country during the observed period decreased by 12%, the volume of sales – by 6% (see Figure 1.25). At the same time, the difference between the volume of manufactured and sold products decreased over the year. If 88% of the innovative products produced were sold in 2020, in 2021 it was 94%. The volume of innovative products in the Republic of Uzbekistan, trillion soums 31,1 27,4 25,1 26,6 2020 2021 Produced Realized Figure 1.25 Volume of innovative products produced and sold in the Republic of Uzbekistan *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan 305

In the regional context, in 2021, Tashkent occupies the leading position in terms of the volume of products produced (see Figure 1.26). A large volume of innovative products is produced in the Andijan, Samarkand and Tashkent regions. The smallest volume of production falls on the Khorezm region. The volume of innovative products produced, trillion +0,4 soums, part 1 13,914,3 +0,3 -0,5 -2,7 +0,4 0 +0,3 4,5 4,8 2,5 2 4,2 0,5 0,9 0,8 0,8 0,4 0,7 1,5 Bukhara r. Tashkent city Andijan r. Samarkand r. Tashkent Kashkadarya r. Navoi r. region 2020 2021 Figure 1.26 Volume of innovative products produced in the regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan, part 1 *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan The volume of innovative products produced, trillion soums, part 2 -0,9 -0,14 -0,26 -0,12 -0,18 -0,28 +0,05 1,5 0,6 0,74 0,6 0,66 0,360,24 0,410,23 0,46 0,4 0,18 0,120,17 Ferghana r. Syrdarya r. Namangan r. Republic of Surkhandarya Djizak r. Khorezm r. Karakalpkstan r. 2020 2021 Figure 1.27 Volume of innovative products produced in the regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan, part 2 *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan 306

In the volume of innovative products produced, the largest share falls on the city of Tashkent (see Figure 1.28). Together with the Andijan, Samarkand and Tashkent regions, it produces 83% of all innovative products of the country. The remaining 10 regions account for 17%. They can be divided into two groups: 1. The \"catching up\" Kashkadarya, Navoi, Bukhara, Ferghana, Syrdarya regions have a 2-3% share in the volume of innovative products produced and, under favorable conditions, can reach the level of Tashkent or Samarkand regions. 2. The \"laggards\" Namangan, Surkhandarya, Jizzakh, Khorezm regions and the Republic of Karakalpakstan have less than 1% of the share and will require longer development. Distribution of the volume of innovative products produced by the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2021, % Laggards Catching up 13% 4% Tashkent region 5% Samarkand r. Tashkent city 8% 52% Andijan r. 18% Figure 1.28 Distribution of the volume of innovative products produced in the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2021 *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan Product innovations prevail in Uzbekistan, thus in 2021 they accounted for 73% of the total number of innovations introduced. Also, a significant share is taken by the type of \"process innovations\" - 22% in 2021. Process and product innovations are referred to as technological innovations. Organizational innovations (2%) and marketing innovations (3%) are the least implemented. 307

Structure of implemented innovations of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2021, % Marketing Organizational innovations innovations 2% 3% Process innovations 22% Innovations introduced 73% Figure 1.29 Structure of implemented innovations in the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2021 *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan In the Oslo Manual82 it is noted that in many developed countries, knowledge-intensive industries, such as high-tech manufacturing and the business services sector, have received significant development. In high-tech industries, research and development are the driver of innovation, while other industries rely more on the development of borrowed knowledge and technologies. Improving innovations and borrowing are usually typical for low- and medium-tech industries. In fact, innovation activity often focuses on the problems of production efficiency, product differentiation and marketing. An important aspect of innovation in these industries is the fact that they are more complex than simply borrowing new technologies. In Uzbekistan, high-tech products are represented in the Manufacturing Industry. Thus, in the balance of foreign trade in technological goods, there is a preponderance towards imports. Both the total trade turnover and exports with imports separately show an increase in 2021 compared to 2020: 10% for export, 20% for import. Thus, the foreign trade balance shows a growing negative trade balance over the past year. 82 Руководство ОСЛО - основной методологический документом Организации экономического сотрудничества и развития (ОЭСР) в области инноваций 308

Foreign trade turnover of high- and medium-tech goods in the Republic of Uzbekistan, USD million 25 461,00 21 153,80 15 102,30 16 610,60 Export 2020 Export 2021 Import 2020 Import 2021 Figure 1.30 Foreign trade turnover of high- and medium-tech goods in the Republic of Uzbekistan *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan The foreign trade turnover of high-tech products in Uzbekistan increased by 33% in 2021 compared to 2020. The increase in trade turnover was mainly due to the increase in purchases of high-tech goods abroad. In absolute terms, 90% of the growth was accounted for by the growth of imports and 10% – by the growth of exports. Export-import of high-tech goods to the Republic of Uzbekistan, USD million 3 261,30 2 455,30 318,3 361,3 Export 2020 Export 2021 Import 2020 Import 2021 Figure 1.31 Export-import of high-tech goods to the Republic of Uzbekistan *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan The foreign trade turnover of medium-tech high-level goods increased by 7% in 2021 compared to 2020, with 29% of the growth accounted for imports, 71% for exports. 309

Export-import of medium-tech goods from a high level in the Republic of Uzbekistan, USD million 8 434,60 8 573,40 902,3 1 413,30 Export 2020 Export 2021 Import 2020 Import 2021 Figure 1.32 Export-import of medium-tech high-level goods in Russia *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan For medium–tech low-level goods, there is a 49% increase in foreign trade turnover in 2021 compared to 2020, 93% of the growth was accounted for by imports, 7% - by exports. Export-import of medium-tech goods from a low level in the Republic of Uzbekistan, USD million 773,3 523,5 19,1 38 Import 2020 Import 2021 Export 2020 Export 2021 Figure 1.33 Export-import of medium-tech low-level goods in Russia *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan In the structure of foreign trade turnover of technological goods, medium– technological high-level goods occupy the largest share - 69%. High-tech goods occupy 25%, and 6% remains for the share of medium-tech low-level goods. 310

Distribution of shares in foreign trade turnover in the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2021 (%) Medium-tech low- level 6% High-tech goods 25% Medium– technological high- level 69% Figure 1.34 Distribution of types of technological goods in foreign trade turnover in the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2021 *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan In general, Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover accounts for 1.4–1.5 dollars of imports per 1 dollar of exports (see Figure 1.35). For categories of technological goods, this ratio is different. Thus, for $ 1 of exports of high-tech goods in 2021, there are $ 9 of imports. For medium–tech high-level goods, this ratio is 1:6; and for medium-tech low-level goods – 1:20. The ratio of imports to exports of high- and medium-tech goods in the Republic of Uzbekistan, US dollars 27,5 20,3 7,7 9,0 9,3 6,1 1,4 1,5 High tech Medium technological Medium technological low General merchandise high level level turnover 2021 2020 Figure 1.35 The ratio of imports to exports of high- and medium-tech goods in the Republic of Uzbekistan *According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan 311

1.2. Achievements of science and innovation in Uzbekistan Scientific and innovative activities in Uzbekistan are actively developing. The regulatory framework and institutional environment are being improved, foreign experts are being attracted to exchange experience, and the country's position in international rankings is being strengthened. Over the past year, 20 regulatory legal acts have been developed in the country, 7 of them have been introduced, including: – Edict of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan-1; – Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan-2; – Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan-2; – Executive order of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan – 2. Table 1.12 List of approved regulatory documents developed by the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2022 № Document name Number & signed date № PF-165 Edict of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan \"On 06.07.2022 15. approval of the Strategy of innovative development of the №PQ-307 06.07.2022 Republic of Uzbekistan for 2022-2026\" № PQ -308 Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan \"On 07.07.2022 organizational measures to implement the Strategy of 16. innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2022- № 41 25.01.2022 2026\" № 87 Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan \"On 25.02.2022 17. additional organizational measures to increase cotton yields, № 101-f the introduction of science and innovation in cotton cultivation\" 07.03.2022 Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan № 237-f 16.05.2022 18. \"On additional measures to transform the Aral Sea region into a region of environmental innovations and technologies\" Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan 19. \"On approval of the members of the Board of the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan\" Executive order of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan \"On further increasing the authority of the country's science and ensuring the effective conduct of international and 20. republican scientific conferences, symposiums, seminars and other scientific and technical events at a high scientific and organizational and practical level aimed at expanding the scope of international scientific and technical cooperation\" Executive order of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan \"On popularization of the current state and trends in 21. the development of science and innovation in Uzbekistan, ongoing state reforms, the main achievements of domestic scientists in recent years, the results of international relations in the field of science and innovation\" The Innovation Development Strategy for 2019-2021 adopted in 2018 has achieved success in stimulating technological progress and introducing 312

innovations in agriculture, energy, construction, education and healthcare. The republic has risen by 40 positions in the ranking of the Global Innovation Index compared to 2015. At the same time, the activity in the field of commercialization of scientific and innovative developments, the intensity of cooperation between science, education and industry in the real sector of the economy remain relatively low. With this in mind, in continuation of the implementation of state policy in the direction of a given vector, a new Strategy for Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2022-2026 was developed and adopted, which identified the following priority areas of development: Support for startups through the creation and development of innovation infrastructure: innovation centers, technology parks, clusters, technology transfer centers, venture organizations, startup accelerators, incubators; as well as the organization of large-scale production. Increasing the share of innovation-active organizations through the improvement of institutional mechanisms of state support for innovation. Acceleration of socio-economic growth of regions due to the strengthening of innovative activity of small enterprises. Stimulating the demand for innovation through a comprehensive system of creating new types of products and technologies from the idea to the end user. Development of human capital through the development of creative, entrepreneurial and innovation skills. The three main departments in the republic that organize scientific and innovative activities and training of scientific personnel are the Ministry of Innovative Development, the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education and the Academy of Sciences. Together, they are implementing a set of measures to ensure effective financing and implementation of promising projects, attract talented young people to research activities, improve access to scientific information for doctoral students, scientists and entrepreneurs, as well as enhance the digitalization of science and innovation. Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan Building human resources in the field of science and innovation is one of the key areas of scientific and innovative development of the country. According to the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education, in 2022 the number of teaching professors in universities increased by 7.6% compared to 2017 and reached 13,450 people. Scientific potential of the teaching staff increased from 32.7% in 2017 to 39% in 2022. In 2017, the number of academic councils for awarding academic degrees in the universities of the republic was 32, and in 2022 their number reached 177. To date, 32 projects worth $4 million are being implemented in 27 universities, which are financed by the World Bank's Academic Innovation Fund. 313

Technology and Innovation Support Centers have been established in 23 universities to expand consulting services for the protection of intellectual property for universities and research institutes. Also, \"Business Accelerators\" were organized in 14 universities, and 47 \"Incubation Centers\" were organized in 40 universities. In order to improve the infrastructure of scientific activity in universities, the creation and phased equipping of 7 interuniversity scientific laboratories is being carried out, in particular, the following have been created: − at the Samarkand State University – “Scientific and educational center of engineering physics”; − at the Bukhara State University – “Scientific and educational center for physics and alternative energy sources”; − at the Karakalpak State University – “Scientific and educational center of ecophysics”; − at the Urgench State University – “Scientific and educational center for semiconductor solar cells and laser physics”; − at the Karshi State University – “Physical-astronomical scientific and educational center”; – at the Andijan State University – “Scientific and educational center for semiconductor physics”; − at the Karakalpak State University named after Berdak – the interuniversity “Information Center” and the cluster of the research laboratory “Chemical Technology”. In the direction of employment of university graduates in order to prevent the “brain drain”, the Strategy for Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2022-2026 provides for the creation of new jobs through the launch of new highly intelligent industries, which ultimately should become a driver for the formation of a creative economy in Uzbekistan. Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan The country needs to train new personnel to continue research, maintain continuity in the transfer of knowledge. As a result of the reforms carried out in recent years, the number of allocated quotas for the training of scientific personnel of the degrees of Doctors of Philosophy (PhD), Doctors of Sciences (DSc) and research interns is steadily increasing in Uzbekistan. In 2022, the Ministry of Innovative Development allocated 3314 quotas for basic doctoral studies (+1657 compared to 2021), 286 quotas for doctoral studies (+143 compared to 2021) and 500 quotas for research interns (+59 compared to 2021). 314

Quotas allocated for basic doctoral studies, doctoral studies and research interns 3314 1657 143 286 441 500 Basic doctoral studies (PhD) Intern-researcher Doctorate(DSc) 2021 2022 Figure 1.36 Quotas allocated for basic doctoral studies, doctoral studies and research interns *According to the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan To automate the processes of registration of applicants, their submission of applications for enrollment in line with specialization of postgraduate education and, in general, coordination of the postgraduate education system, the Ministry has created a unified electronic system www.phd.mininnovation.uz. At the moment, the system includes data on more than 200 universities and scientific organizations and contains a database of more than 7700 applicants. Moreover, the system is integrated with the systems of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education and the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations, which contain information about higher education diplomas and workbooks of applicants. In the direction of improving the quality of the process of selecting applicants and enrolling them in doctoral studies, the Ministry of Innovative Development is working jointly with the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education, the Academy of Sciences, the State Testing Center under the Cabinet of Ministers and the Agency for the Popularization of Foreign Language Learning under the Cabinet of Ministers. The draft joint decision has been prepared, which defines the procedure for conducting entrance exams, the rights and obligations of the examination commission, the conditions for announcing exam results, determining priorities and privileges, as well as measures to teach foreign languages and increase the potential of doctoral students. In particular, in 2023 it is proposed to organize free foreign language courses for newly enrolled doctoral students (PhD/DSc) during the first year, at the expense of non-budget funds of universities and taking into account the plan/schedule of their research activities. 315

In order to improve the quality and volume of R&D, the Ministry forms a state order for research programs. From January to November 2022, a total of 511.9 billion soums were allocated for scientific projects, the total number of projects amounted to 929. In the structure of allocated funding, 91% falls on research projects, 6% on startup projects. Among research projects, applied projects accounted for the most funding (63%), followed by innovative projects (15%). Fundamental projects and projects in preparation for commercialization received 11% each, the least funds were allocated for development programs (0.10%). Also, 44 startup projects were funded for a total amount of 44 million soums. Table 1.13 Information on projects funded in 2022 within the framework of state programs of scientific activity in the Republic of Uzbekistan Funding by fields quantity 2022 mln.soums Research projects 929 464 729 Fundamental projects 109 52 085 Applied projects 579 290 818 Innovative projects 153 68 793 Experimental-development programs 1 479 Projects prepared for commercialization 87 52 555 Startup projects 44 29 132 Other projects - 18 018 Total 973 511 880 *According to the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan Among the regions, the most funded scientific projects are in the city of Tashkent, the Tashkent region and the Republic of Karakalpakstan (more than 80%). The least scientific projects are in the Jizzakh, Surkhandarya, Khorezm regions. In all areas of projects, the capital is leading in comparison with other regions of the country. Table 1.14 Information on projects funded in 2022 within the framework of state programs of scientific activity in the context of the regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan Inc. Dif. projects (mln. soums) Total projects Science projects Commercialization Startup projects projects Regions Quan- Sum Quan- Sum Quan- Sum Quan- Sum Total tity tity tity tity Tashkent city 493 861 Tashkent region 973 305 195 842 412 87 52 554 44 29 132 Republic of 80 836 175 Karakalpkstan 589 23 401 Namangan r. 144 559 280 964 17 15 242 13 8 988 13 154 Andijan r. 39 10 312 135 74 939 6 3 811 3 2 087 31 30 15 338 4 3 715 5 4 349 26 20 7 018 10 5 601 1 535 2 035 1 798 17 7 479 8 316

Bukhara r. 21 8 349 8 1 920 8 2 993 5 3 436 Samarkand r. 19 7 270 14 4 650 2 729 3 1 891 Navoi r. 18 7 422 8 3 320 5 1 669 5 2 433 Ferghana r. 18 8 127 8 2 582 8 3 254 2 2 291 Kashkadarya r. 17 6 677 11 3 365 3 2 214 3 1 099 Syrdarya r. 16 10 611 7 1 870 9 8 740 Khorezm r. 13 4 753 10 3 256 3 1 497 Djizak r. 11 3 641 6 2 417 4 1 056 1 169 Surkhandarya r. 11 4 116 9 3 058 2 1 058 *According to the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan In 2022, the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education involved 242 scientific projects worth 94.4 billion soums. The Academy of Sciences financed 177 projects totaling 97.3 billion soums. Also, significant funding is allocated by the Ministry of Health (54.3 billion soums), the Ministry of Agriculture (46.8 billion soums) and the Ministry of Innovative Development (26.9 billion soums). Table 1.15 Information on projects funded in 2022 within the framework of state programs related to the scientific activities of ministries and departments of the Republic of Uzbekistan № Ministries and Committees Total projects Quantity mln. soum 0 Total 929 464 729 1 Ministry of Higher and 242 94 355 Secondary Special Education 2 Academy of Sciences 177 97 264 3 Other organisations 108 61 026 4 Ministry of Agriculture 100 46 851 5 Ministry of Health 99 54 267 6 Ministry of Information Technology and 33 17 089 Communications Development 7 Ministry of Innovative Development 28 26 890 8 State Committee on Geology and Mineral Resources 14 4 944 9 Hydrometeorological Service Center 12 6 220 10 Ministry of Water Resources 12 5 906 11 Ministry of Defense 11 6 623 12 State Forestry Committee 10 4 711 13 Committee on Religious Affairs 8 3 183 14 Plant Protection and Quarantine Agency 8 3 734 15 Committee for the Development of the Silk and Wool 6 2 834 Industry 16 Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company 6 2 133 * According to the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan In addition, 98 international joint projects totaling 98.3 billion soums are being implemented within the framework of the Uzbekistan-India, Uzbekistan-China and Uzbekistan-EAPS programs. 317

It should be noted that since the beginning of 2022, the Ministry has launched an updated electronic platform www.grant.mininnovation.uz, which accepts applications for funding scientific projects in electronic form. There are currently 1,283 users, 15 technical experts, and 131 scientific experts on this site. In addition, 99 topics have been announced as part of the competitions. The Ministry actively engages the private sector and industry organizations to co-finance research projects. In 2022, agreements were reached between industry and scientific organizations with the participation of the Ministry on the implementation of 6 projects totaling 5.1 billion soums. As for attracting financial resources of economic entities, 191.4 million US dollars will be attracted as part of the implementation of 42 investment projects for 2022- 2026 from non-budgetary funds. In the direction of commercialization of scientific and innovative developments in 2022, 255 developments with a total value of 104 billion soums were commercialized. In total, high-tech products were sold for a total of 33 billion soums and services were provided for 37.6 billion soums. In March 2022, at the initiative of the Ministry, the spring season of the Forum on the Commercialization of Scientific Developments was held, which aimed at developing cooperation between economic management bodies, network organizations and regions. Within the framework of the forum, 79 contracts worth 22.7 billion soums were signed for the introduction of ready- made scientific developments aimed at solving existing problems in the field of economics, organizing new research works together with scientific organizations. More detailed information about the results of the Forum on the Commercialization of Scientific developments can be found at the link:https://online.pubhtml5.com/ojyh/fcqk/#p=1 or by QR-code. Results of the Forum on Commercialization of Scientific Developments Also, work is underway with universities and research institutes to prepare scientific developments for commercialization and implementation. Currently, 29 developments worth 32.2 billion soums are at the stage of commercialization. 318

More details about the developments ready for commercialization can be found at the link:https://online.pubhtml5.com/ojyh/lkqy/#p=1 or by QR-code. Catalog of scientific developments ready for commercialization Work is actively underway to involve young people in the field of science and innovation. The number of members of the Youth Academy under the Ministry has reached 3,600 today, which is 800 more comepared to previous year. Six events were held in the regions of the country, involving more than 1,200 talented young people. In addition, in 2022, three major republican competitions were held aimed at supporting the projects of members of the Academy of Youth: \"Future Scientist\", \"First steps of women in Business\" and \"Student Idea Challenge\". Based on the results of the selections, it is planned to implement projects with a total cost of 20 billion soums, within which 150 new jobs will be created. The implementation of startup projects is funded through the Financing Science and Innovation Support Fund, and also from the funds allocated to the Ministry from the state budget. At the same time, the announcement of the startup project competition is carried out at least twice a year. Thus, for the current year, 37 startup projects were financed for a total of 17.7 billion soums. To increase the efficiency of scientific research and development, wide implementation of the results of research and development work innovative infrastructure is actively developing in the country. In 2022, 21 infrastructure facilities were launched, including 10 technoparks, 5 innovation centers and 6 venture funds. It should be noted that the residents of the Innovative Technopark \"Yashnabad\" reached 60, 710 new jobs were created, products totaling 407.3 billion soums were produced, while the total volume of exported products amounted to 3.8 million US dollars. More information about the products of the Innovative Technopark \"Yashnabad\" can be found at the link: https://online.pubhtml5.com/ojyh/wfho/#p=1 or by QR-code. 319

Product catalog Innovative Technopark \"Yashnabad\" Also, as part of the implementation of programs for the development of innovative infrastructure in the regions, the Ministry allocated funds for the purchase of laboratory equipment for research institutes and universities. Thus, 43 types of laboratory equipment worth 20.7 billion soums were purchased during the reporting period. Separate work is being carried out in the direction of innovative development of the regions. In the Republic of Karakalpakstan and each region, a total of 28 innovative districts have been created, on the basis of which joint competitions for financing scientific and innovative projects are held jointly with the “khakimiyats”. During the reporting period, the Ministry, with the involvement of the local budget and the private sector, financed 100 projects worth 120.9 billion soums, during the implementation of which 565 new jobs were created. More detailed information about the results of scientific and innovative activities of the regions can be found at the link: https://online.pubhtml5.com/ojyh/vtlg/#p=1 or by QR-code. Results of scientific and innovative activity of the regions To increase the scientific potential and socio-economic development of the regions, the Ministry has carried out the following activities: − \"Week of Innovative Technologies in the agro-industrial complex\", which resulted with signing of 16 contracts and 25 agreements with a total value of 1.67 320

billion soums. At the same time, within the framework of the national competition of projects aimed at improving the efficiency of land use on the drained bottom of the Aral Sea, 5 applied and 12 innovative projects worth 16.2 billion soums were financed. − A roadmap has been developed and a trilateral memorandum of understanding and cooperation has been signed between the International Innovation Center of the Aral Sea Region, the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Tashkent National Research University \"Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers\". − Fifteen species of perennial (Halostachys belangeriana, Halocnemum strobilaceum, Kalidium) and annual (Salicornia europaea, Climacoptera intericata) plants grown in vitro in the Syrdarya and Jizzakh steppes were planted on the bottom of the Aral Sea on the territory of the \"0-headquarters\" organized by the Ministry using special agrotechnical methods. − In order to create broad opportunities for the implementation of projects at the bottom of the Aral Sea, the material and technical base of the \"Aral Scientific and Experimental Station\" has been updated. − In cooperation with the Japanese agency JICA, a project competition \"SATREPS-2020\" was held in March 2022, aimed at improving the efficiency of land use on the drained bottom of the Aral Sea, providing a scientific solution to the problems of water conservation and salt reduction. Within the framework of the competition, a total of 10 projects worth 23.6 billion soums were financed. On a grant basis, the Ministry regularly organizes short-term internships for young research scientists in all areas of science. Thus, during the reporting period, with the support of the Science Financing and Innovation Support Fund, 137 young research scientists passed qualifying rounds for scientific internships in more than 20 countries, such as the USA, Belarus, Belgium, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Turkia, Czech Republic, Japan and others. In addition, since 2020, the Ministry has launched the project \"English for Science\", aimed at implementing a training program to improve the knowledge and practice of academic English among Uzbek researchers, the main purpose of which is to bring domestic scientists to the international level by ensuring qualitative growth in the use of advanced foreign databases of scientific and technical information, training scientists preparation and publication of scientific articles in prestigious scientific journals, increasing the activity of scientists in participating in international scientific conferences and establishing international scientific ties, searching for foreign sources of funding (grants) for their own research and further commercialization of the results. Every year 200 Uzbek scientists and researchers are selected to participate in this program. Thus, in 2022, 1,436 applications were received (+269 compared to 2021), according to the results of the three–stage selection, 84 people passed in the 321

humanities and social sciences, 50 in mathematics and technical sciences, 39 in medical sciences, 27 in agriculture and ecology. It is worth noting that the program is being implemented taking into account advanced foreign practices with the involvement of foreign researchers and experts with extensive experience in publishing scientific articles in highly rated journals. Also, in order to promote the publication of scientific articles by scientists in scientific journals with a high rating, since August 2019, the Ministry, provides Proof Reading Service for the correction and revision of articles in English for free which in line with the Chinese experience. Articles are designed according to technical requirements, planned for publication in scientific journals with a high rating, are submitted to the Ministry in English by e-mail [email protected]. In total, 135 scientific articles were received in 2022, out of selected 32 articles 11 were published in prestigious scientific journals. Finally, the Ministry is actively working to improve the state system of scientific and technical information to provide the necessary, reliable and complete data for the processes of making operational and strategic management decisions on the development of science and innovation, as well as for high- quality information and analytical services for all subjects of the national innovation system. To achieve these goals, the Center for Scientific and Technical Information under the Ministry achieved the following results during the reporting period: − a database of electronic versions of reporting documentation on scientific and innovative project and more than 5,300 projects have been financed from the state budget. Based on the collected responses, an analysis of the effectiveness was carried out, the results of research activities with the potential for commercialization were revealed; − work has been established on information and analytical services for branches of science, including the preparation of digests and bulletins on the latest innovative technologies and scientific developments in the country and in the world. Digests on the development of vaccines against COVID-19 are prepared and published on a daily basis; − access of research institutes and universities to leading full-text databases of scientific and technical information is provided, in particular, access to Web of Science and Springer Nature resources is provided, as well as training events are regularly held and technical support is provided; − in cooperation with the UNESCO Office in Tashkent, within the framework of the UNESCO and the Islamic Development Bank project \"UNESCO Global Observatory of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Instruments towards strengthening inclusive Science, Technology, Innovation Systems for the Sustainable Development Goals\", a project National Policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the field of science, technology and innovation 2030 has been developed; 322

− digitalization projects are being implemented, in particular, a National Scientific web Portal has been developed (nsp.gov.uz), Information and analytical system of scientific and technical information (ias.gov.uz), Innovation Activity Navigator (nsp.gov.uz/regions), Unified electronic database of research laboratories in Uzbekistan (slab.gov.uz). Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan The Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2022 includes 35 research institutions in various fields of science, which employ 5760 researchers. Taking into account the important role of scientific organizations of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the development of academic science, the integration of science with economic sectors, including the manufacturing sector, the Government is taking measures to improve the system of their financing and increase the efficiency of their activities. Over the past two years, as a result of particular attention to training of highly qualified specialists, the number of PhD-doctoral students in the system has increased by 34%, and the number of DSc-doctoral students by 20%. The number of young scientists working in the system has increased by 41%, and the average age of researchers is 47 years. Also, plans have been adopted for the systematic optimization of the activities of scientific organizations of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan until 2025. In particular, since June 2020, the process of transferring some of the employees (about 700) from direct funding from the State Budget to the system of grant competitions based on the experience of foreign countries has been launched. Thus, scientific organizations of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan take part in competitions regularly held by the Ministry of Innovative Development in accordance with the requirements for the formation and implementation of a state order for research, and also submit project proposals for competitions announced within the framework of the Ministry and the World Bank project \"Modernization of the National Innovation System of Uzbekistan\" and other international programs. Currently, the scientific organizations of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan are implementing 137 projects with a total cost of 269.1 billion soums, which is 2 times more than in 2020 (excluding direct funding from the State Budget). In 2021-2022, the scientific organizations of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan contributed 158 topics totaling 350.2 billion soums to form a state order for research work. As a result of the expansion of international relations in the field of science and technology, 98 international joint projects totaling 112.2 billion soums are being implemented in cooperation with 7 countries. Further optimization of the activities of scientific organizations of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan requires in-depth analysis and 323

the development of sound proposals. Such an analysis can be implemented through a scientific audit with the involvement of foreign experts. In particular, it is necessary to analyze the effectiveness of scientific research conducted in recent years, including for the potential of their commercialization, socio-economic significance, expected results, etc. Within the framework of this Report, the following achievements of scientists working in scientific institutions of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan in recent years are noted: In the field of technical and engineering sciences The Institute of Mechanics and Seismic Resistance of Structures named after M.Urazbaev of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan has created a wave theory of seismic resistance of underground structures interacting with the ground83. Within the framework of the three-dimensional dynamic theory of elasticity, the momentless theory of thick plates and shells is developed 84. Nonlinear laws of deformation of soils and rocks have been developed taking into account structural changes 85. Criteria have been developed for the accumulation of reinforced concrete and metal structures built from local raw materials, as well as damage that occurs during the operation of structures. On the basis of modern information technologies, the measurement systems of test machines have been improved. The physical and mechanical properties and strength characteristics of some structures, as well as the deformation patterns of various building materials are determined. Also, based on the developed mathematical model of seismodynamics of spatially located pipeline systems with nodal connections under seismic action at an arbitrary angle, the Institute has created a set of practical programs for calculating spatial systems of underground pipes under the influence of seismic waves in the form of a three-component seismogram. A new method for determining, evaluating and predicting the durability, seismic resistance and stability of earthworks has been created. Recommendations have been developed to ensure the seismic safety of school buildings, their certification and the use of preventive measures to reduce damage during strong earthquakes. A new class of gear-lever differential transmission mechanisms (GLDTM) has been created and their modifications86. New efficient types of cotton gins, transport devices and mechanisms for leather and agricultural production have been created. New 83 Нишонов Н.А., Хуррамов А.Ч., Рахматов Ш.Н. Напряженно-деформируемое состояние подземных полимерных трубопроводов при сейсмическом воздействии в виде реальных записей землетрясений // Central Asian Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies (CARJIS) - Volume 2, Issue 4, April, 2022. DOI: 10.24412/2181-2454-2022-4-450-459 84 Усаров М.К., Усаров Д.М. Теория толстых пластин переменной толщины с учетом бимоментов // Узбекский журнал проблемы механики – 2018. №3. С.6-11. 85 Султанов К.С., Логинов П.В., Салихова З.Р. Экспериментально-теоретический метод определения механических характеристик грунтов при динамических нагружениях // Известия РАН. Механика твердого тела - 2019. Т. 54. № 6. С. 915-928. 86 Рахмонов Х., Исмаилов С., Амиржонов А. Структурный анализ нового дифференциального передаточного механизма с симметричным перемещением центров вращения ведущих и ведомых зубчатых колес и его модификации // Universum: технические науки: электрон.науч. журн. – 2021. №4(85). 324

designs of sawn cotton gin pads have been introduced into the technological processes of cotton gins. A model of interaction of open pockets with opposite drum spindles has been created, taking into account the geometric deformation of the pockets. Modern hydro transmitters have been developed and tested for fans of cotton harvesters and for systems that automatically repeat the profile of the field. To map earthquake points, assess the socio-economic and environmental consequences of earthquakes, as well as to plan measures against possible earthquakes in regions of the country with high seismic risk, the G.Mavlyanov Institute of Seismology of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan has developed and implemented an interactive \"Seismological Atlas of Uzbekistan\"87. In addition, a new accelerometer has been developed based on digital mems accelerometers ADXL-345 and the ADRUINO UNO-3 microcontroller, designed to register wave accelerations during earthquakes, as well as to monitor the seismic vulnerability of buildings and structures at seismic stations, reservoirs and dams. In the field of physics For the first time, the U.Arifov Institute of Ion Plasma and Laser Technologies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan synthesized one-dimensional nanoscale nanotubes consisting of fullerene macromolecules С60 in solutions, which have a unique nanostructure and have excellent semiconductor properties and mechanical strength. Also, the Institute for the first time determined the maximum energy of hydrogen during the introduction of hydrogen atoms into fullerene by the probability of endofullerene N@С60 formation.88 The threshold temperatures of atoms and dusting of clusters during bombardment of the Si surface with caesium ions were determined by the method of secondary ion mass spectrometry. A technology for producing metallurgical rhenium from ammonium perrenate using plasma has been developed, which allows obtaining high-quality and highly efficient products. The laboratory equipment created on the basis of the developed technology has been successfully tested at the enterprise and has shown high efficiency. A proton- conducting membrane made of organic polymers has been developed and modified with silicon oxide nanoparticles. A vanadium battery has been developed from local raw materials for long-term use. In the field of mathematics The V.Romanovsky Institute of Mathematics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan has developed and implemented a software product for monitoring and forecasting the atmosphere of industrial territories. A program for assessing the risks of the disease COVID-19 has been developed and 87 Подготовлен сейсмологический атлас Узбекистана // http://www.academy.uz/ru/news/ozbekiston- seysmologik-atlasi-tayyorlandi 88 Коххаров А., Бахрамов С., Махманов У., Эсанов Ш., Асланов Б., Бекмуродов З., Синдаров Б. Получение нанотрубок фуллерена с60 в объеме испаряющихся капель раствора // лазерные, плазменные исследования и технологии - ЛАПЛАЗ-2021. Сборник научных трудов VII Международной конференции. Москва, 2021. Национальный исследовательский ядерный университет \"МИФИ\". С. 243-244. 325

implemented in the emergency medical care system of the Republic of Uzbekistan89. In the field of chemistry and chemical technologies The Institute of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan determined the biological activity of ascorbate- chitosan \"Bombyx\" and nanoascorbate-chitosan during encapsulation and pre- sowing treatment of seeds of agricultural crops and prevention of phytopathogens; antimicrobial properties of chitosan nanoascorbate with respect to fusarium wilting of soybean leaves and roots, as well as a growth-accelerating effect on vegetable-multicultural crops; seed treatment of crops was performed potato solutions of chitosan (HZ) and its derivatives90. Composites based on carbon black of high-density polyethylene and linear low-density polyethylene containing grafted copolymers of low molecular weight polyethylene and acrylic acid were obtained. For the first time in situ, chitosan-stabilized bimetallic nanoparticles HZ- Ag/Cu were obtained. On the basis of Bombyx Mori chitosan and amber anhydride, 1N-succinyl was synthesized, its structure and properties were determined; three-component interpolyelectrolyte complexes HZ/Na- CMC/collagen were synthesized and the formation of stoichiometric three- component polyelectrolyte complexes was determined. The Institute has also developed a basic technological scheme and technological schemes for the production of biodegradable Na-CMC iplant films containing silver nanoparticles of a given size with bactericidal, bacteriostatic properties intended for the treatment of burns and deep wounds. The Institute of Plant Chemistry named after Academician S.Yunusov of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan isolated more than 170 individual substances from plants, from which 16 new secondary metabolites were obtained and subjected to biological screening, 105 substances with biological activity were purposefully synthesized. For the first time, a new type of alkaloid has been isolated from nature as a ligand and its structure has been proved by various physicochemical methods. As a result of various chemical transformations of oxa(thi)diazole and triazole, benzimidazole, benzoxazole, benztiazole, bicyclo-quinazolines, thienopyrimidines, 80 new substances were synthesized91. The chemical composition and insecticidal activity of the CO2 extract of the leaves of the Alcea nudiflora plant were determined92. Promising substances with anticonvulsant, 89 Икрамов А., Хаджибаев А. «Система оценки рисков состояния для ведения больных COVID-19» Авторское свидетельство № DGU 09206 от 25.09.2020. 90 Pirniyazov, K.K., Tikhonov, V.E., Rashidova, S.Sh. Synthesis and properties of oligochitosan ascorbate from Bombyx mori. Bulletin of the University of Karaganda – Chemistry, 101(1), 91-98. https://doi.org/10.31489/2021Ch1/91-98 91 Yusupova U., Ramazonov Sh., Syrov V., Sagdullaev Sh. Phytoecdysteroids. Biological Activity and Applications - Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022. ISBN 978-981-16-6710-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6711- 4 92 Khidyrova N., Turaeva S., Rakhmatova M., Bobakulov Kh., Sagdullaev Sh., Zakirova R., Khodjaniyazov Kh., Torikai K. Compositional Analysis and Potent Insecticidal Activity of Supercritical CO2 Fluid Extracts of Alcea nudiflora L. Leaves // ACS Omega 2022, 7, 23, 19892–19897. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c01688 326

psychotropic, antidepressant, wound-healing, antioxidant activity have been identified. The SOVONTA drug developed by the Institute93 against hepatitis C virus, according to the results of clinical trials, it showed positive results, which allowed it to be introduced into the healthcare system. The Navoi Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan has developed an innovative method of sowing cotton seeds with bentonite clay powder, and pilot tests have been carried out on cotton fields of Navoi, Surkhandarya, Tashkent and Namangan regions94. In the field of botany The Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan has compiled a cadastral list of flora of the administrative regions of Uzbekistan95. Five new species of flora have been identified 96. Populations of 655 species of rare plants have been evaluated and identified and are listed in the Red Book of Uzbekistan.97 The areas and reserves of 30 medicinal plants have been determined. A new annotated summary of plant species present in the flora of Uzbekistan has been created. Volumes 4-6 of the National Flora of Uzbekistan have been prepared based on the modern classification of flowering plants. A list of wild medicinal plants has been compiled and information about their stocks has been included. A digital platform has been created that serves to monitor species, assess the impact of anthropogenic and climatic factors on research objects. An electronic depository of medicinal and endangered plants used in folk medicine of Uzbekistan has been developed. In the field of zoology The Institute of Zoology described the taxonomic composition of the vertebrate helminths of Karakalpakstan, revealed the bioecological features of the dominant species of parasites, bacterial strains with nematocidal action in the fight against the seed nematode98. New pathogenic poisonous baits have been developed to combat termites. A new species of reptiles has been discovered for the world fauna. Based on the molecular genetic analysis of rare and endemic reptiles living in the Fergana Valley, a new species of gecko Alsophylax sp was discovered.99 In the field of biotechnology 93 Syrov V., Khushbaktova Z., Elmuradov B., Narbutaeva D., Oshchepkova Yu., Uzbekov V., Ziyaev A., Abdurazakov A., Aisa H., Shen J., Sagdullayev Sh. SOVONTA - synthetic analogue of sofosbuvir // XIII International Symposium on the Chemistry of Natural Compounds. 16-19.10.2019. P.215. 94 Интеграция науки и производства: Внедрение метода посадки капсулированных бентонитом семян хлопчатника // http://navoi.academy.uz/ru/news/ozbekiston-olimlari-chigitni-bentonit-bilan-qobiqlab-ekish- usulini-yolga-qoydilar 95 Тожибаев К.Ш., Бешко Н.Ю. и др. Серия монографий «Кадастр флоры Узбекистана». – Ташкент: ФАН. 96 Бешко Н. Ю., Шомуродов Х.Ф., Рахимова Н. К., Шарипова В.К. Новые дополнения для флоры Узбекистана // Доклады Академии Наук РУз, 2019, №1. – С. 45–48. 97 Красная книга Республики Узбекистан: Редкие и исчезающие виды растений и животных (в 2-х томах). Т. 1. Растения. – Ташкент: Tasvir, 2019. – 356 с. 98 Каниязов А.Ж., Шакарбоев Э.Б. Гельминты ослов Каракалпакстана // Теория и практика борьбы с паразитарными болезнями – 2022. №23. С.218-2022. https://doi.org/10.31016/978-5-6046256-9- 9.2022.23.218-222 99 Новый для мировой фауны вид гекконов обнаружен в Ферганской долине // https://academy.uz/ru/news/dunyo-faunasi-uchun-yangi-bolgan-gekkon-turi-aniqlandi 327

For the first time, the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics identified all DNA sequences of coronavirus strains common in the republic, thanks to which Uzbekistan became one of the countries that read the full genome of coronavirus variants100. With the help of marker selection technology, new varieties of cotton Ravnak-1 and Ravnak-2 were created and introduced into farms. Using gene knockout technology, high-quality cotton varieties Porlok-5, Porlok-6, Porlok-7 and Porlok-8 were obtained, as well as the withering- resistant Bardosh variety and new biotechnological lines resistant to drought, cold and salinity. With the help of gene-knockout technology, high-yielding and early-ripening varieties of wheat Beads and Barkamol have been created. The technology of microclonal reproduction of potatoes, pomegranates and grapes has been mastered. Scientists of the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics in cooperation with the US Department of Agriculture and the University of California have created new varieties of fine-fiber cotton PSSJ-FRP01, PSSJ- FRP02 and PSSJ-FRP03, which are highly resistant to various diseases101. In the field of history and archaeology The Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the direction of the ancient and medieval period of the history of Central Asia published a study entitled \"The History of the Karakhanid Khanate in the studies of the People's Republic of China\"»102 the monograph \"Kokand Khanate and East Turkestan: political, economic and cultural ties\" (15 volumes) has been published103; collection \"Relations between Uzbekistan and China (in the Middle Ages)\"; book \"Mullah Shamsiddin Shavki\"104, monograph \"The Oguz component of the Uzbek people\"; 45 pages of the chronology \"Arabic information on the historical geography of Central Asia\" have been translated. The Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the basis of archaeological sources investigated the ancient art and culture of Uzbekistan in the ancient and later periods. Archaeological research was carried out on the monument of Dalvarzintepa in Sorochinsky district of Surkhandarya region. During the excavations, the defensive walls in the northwestern part of the ancient city were studied, its interior was opened, the structures of the time of its construction and subsequent periods were studied. 100 Abdullaev A, Abdurakhimov A, Mirakbarova Z, Ibragimova S, Tsoy V, et al. (2022) Genome sequence diversity of SARS-CoV-2 obtained from clinical samples in Uzbekistan. PLOS ONE 17(6): e0270314. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270314 101 Ulloa, M., Abdurakhmonov, I., Hutmacher, R., Schramm, T., Shermatov, S., Buriev, Z., Roberts, P., Ellis, M., & Payton, P. (2022). Registration of three Gossypium barbadense L. American pima-like germplasm lines (PSSJ- FRP01, PSSJ-FRP02, and PSSJ-FRP03) with improved resistance to Fusarium wilt race 4 and good fiber quality. Journal of Plant Registrations, 16, 626– 634. https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20230 102 Ходжаев А., Турдиева Д. Қорахонийлар хоқонлиги тарихи Хитой Халқ Республикаси олимлари тадқиқотларида – Т.: Фан зиёси, 2021 й. - 148 б. 103 Қўлдошев Ш. «Қўқон хонлиги ва Шарқий Туркистон ўртасидаги сиёсий, иқтисодий ва маданий алоқалар (XVIII-XIX асрнинг ўрталари)” – Т.:, 2021. 104 Абдулаҳатов Н., Қўлдошев Ш. Мулла Шамсиддин Шавқий. Монорафия. ― Т.: Ибрат медиа нашриѐти. 2021. – 336 б. 328

In the field of Oriental and Islamic studies The Institute of Oriental Studies in the direction of historical source studies edited and translated 45 pages of the work \"Description of Khorezm and shrines\" (\"Khorazm ta'rifi va undagi zieratgo'lar baeni\"); translated into Russian and annotated five printed sheets from Khondamir's work \"Habib as-siyar\"; carried out a literal translation of 18 pages of information on the history of culture of Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan from Khondamir's work \"Khulasat al-akhbar\"; the 2nd volume of Khorezm epigraphy has been published; the book-album \"Inscriptions on the monuments of Jizzakh\" (\"Gizzah obidalaridagi bitiklar\") has been prepared; a critical text and a complete visualization of the work of Abulgozi Bahadirkhan \"Shajarayi Turk\" has been compiled; 10 pages of the treatise \"Manofeh at-tujar fi masail al-bey\" have been translated into modern language. In the field of Islamic studies, the 1st volume of Burhaniddin al- Marghinani's work entitled \"Mukhtorot an-Nawazil\" was published, a scientific and explanatory translation of 10 pages from the 2nd volume was carried out; a scientific and pictorial translation of the 1st volume of Fakhruddin Kazihan's work \"Fatavoi Kazihan\" from Arabic into Uzbek was carried out. Translated from Persian and published the work \"Yusuf Karabogiy wa uning Risolai botiniyya risolasi\", which is one of the rare sources expressing the philosophical and scientific views of the Muslim world. In the field of linguistics The Institute of Uzbek Language, Literature and Folklore of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan has prepared for academic publication 65 volumes of the 100-volume collection of \"Monuments of Uzbek Folk Art\" with scientific research, annotations and reviews, the first 50 volumes of the 100-volume collection of \"Masterpieces of Uzbek Literature\". (10 classic volumes, 40 modern samples of literature). Volumes 1-5 of the \"Annotated Dictionary of the Uzbek Language\" and the \"Large Annotated Dictionary of Synonyms of the Uzbek Language\" have been completed and prepared for republication in Latin, \"Uzbek Dialects\" and \"Dictionary of Anthropocentric Linguistic Terms\" have been prepared for publication; 2 volumes of the 5-volume \"Dictionary of the Navoi Language\" have been published.105 105 “Навоий тили луғати”нинг иккинчи жилди нашр этилди // https://uza.uz/ru/posts/navoiy-tili- lugatining-ikkinchi-zhildi-nashr-etildi_349108?q=%2Fposts%2Fnavoiy-tili-lugatining-ikkinchi-zhildi-nashr- etildi_349108 329

1.3. Modern challenges for science and innovation in Uzbekistan Emerging global trends are diverse and pose a number of new challenges to the global scientific and innovative community. However, not all challenges may be relevant for one particular country: much will depend on local challenges caused by the current state of development of science and innovation activity, as well as the goals of the country. Based on this, the following are the challenges that Uzbekistan faces at the present stage of development and taking into account the current goals of state policy. Modern challenges for science and innovation: 1. Increase the share of R&D expenditures in GDP. Current R&D expenditures account for an extremely insignificant share of the country's GDP compared to the global average. This share needs to be gradually increased in order to have competitive scientific and innovative activities. 2. Attract domestic private as well as foreign funding for R&D. It is necessary to attract more private and foreign capital to reduce the burden on the state budget, as well as to increase the efficiency of financing. 3. Increase the personnel reserve. The \"brain drain\" is an urgent problem for Uzbekistan. It is necessary to retain our own scientific personnel, attract personnel from abroad, as well as train more doctoral students. An important factor for increasing the personnel reserve is an increase in the amount of remuneration for scientific workers. The next important factor is to improve the quality of education in order to train qualified scientific personnel. 4. Raise the level of internal and external integration of science, education and production in all economic and social spheres and create an opportunity for prompt joint resolution of problematic issues. Increase the contribution of science, education and production to the development of priority sectors of the economy. 5. Stabilize and scale the processes of development and implementation of innovations. The current processes of innovation implementation are unstable, too small a proportion of enterprises are engaged in them to be able to talk about competitive innovation activity in the country. A stable and favorable ecosystem for the development and implementation of innovations, creative entrepreneurship is a prerequisite. 6. Diversify innovations. Most of the innovations being introduced are technological. It is necessary to create conditions for the introduction of marketing and organizational innovations, since the introduction of technologies without improving management processes and product promotion will not give the expected increase in competitiveness. 7. Establish domestic production of innovative products to reduce import dependence. The gradual replacement of imported innovative products with national analogues will increase the stability of the national economy and reduce dependence on global economic and geopolitical risks. 330

8. Raise the level of commercialization of intellectual property objects (IPO), intensify work in the direction of providing payments (royalties) to intellectual property rights holders. 9. Increase the effectiveness of the Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) in creating an environment for innovative thinking and creativity in the country. 10. Reduce the regional imbalance. The main problem is an imbalance in the implementation of scientific developments and innovations, because an imbalance in this area leads to economic imbalances, changes in internal migration flows and stagnation of individual regions. Concentration of development centers is quite acceptable within several regions, but it is important to distribute the results of their work in accordance with the needs of all regions. 11. Develop infrastructure for science and innovation, as well as spaces for communication between the scientific community, business and the civil sector. Advanced development, technology transfer, commercialization, and scaling of ideas are impossible without infrastructure. 12. Promote sustainable development. Sustainable development is achievable only when most countries build their long-term strategies in line with the UN SDGs and international agreements on sustainable development. Each country, however, has its own characteristics that need to be taken into account when developing strategies. This requires scientific research in this area. 13. Promote the development of the local expert community and facilitate its integration into the international expert community. Modern science is interdisciplinary and international, therefore it is necessary not only to develop its own scientific community, but also to create conditions for its integration into the world scientific community for the rapid exchange of knowledge, technology and experience. 14. Expand regional cooperation. Some problems are not big enough for the world, but they are too big for one country. To solve regional problems, it is necessary to cooperate with the scientific communities of the countries of a particular region. Creating conditions for such cooperation is the key to solving regional problems. 15. Eliminate the digital lag and strengthen integration into the global information space. Facilitating scientists' access to local and global databases, social networks will improve the quality and speed of R&D in the country. A modern scientist needs digitalization of the knowledge base, communication processes, and service support. 331

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2 COMPETITIVENESS OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN IN SCIENTIFIC AND INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES 2.1. Uzbekistan's Science and innovation in global rankings Competitiveness is a multi–valued term used in various contexts. In this analysis, the competitiveness of Uzbekistan is considered in the context of scientific and innovative activities. To assess their relationship, the indicators proposed by the OECD were used [106]. Among them, accordingly, those that may be related to the competitiveness of the country were selected [107]. The indicators under consideration are: R&D expenditures, current patents, researchers per 1 million population, publications in the Nature Index (see Table 2.1) in order to be able to compare the indicators of Uzbekistan with the leading countries. For comparison, the indicators of the countries with the largest share of R&D expenditures in GDP in the world were selected, as well as the global values of these indicators according to the latest data. The analysis is based on the assumption that in order to remain competitive at the global level, Uzbekistan needs to have indicators comparable to the global average, and for leadership – comparable to the indicators of the most developed countries in this regard. The share of R&D expenditures in GDP in the world was 1.92%. In the Republic of Korea, the leader in this indicator, this value is 4.81%. In China, which has the lowest value among the countries represented, this share is 2.40%. For Uzbekistan, this value is 0.13%, i.e. about 10-30 times lower than the global average or in the Republic of Korea. According to WIPO, the United States accounts for 21.1% of the world's active patents, followed by China, where the share was 19.3%. In the top three, Japan, the share was 12.9%. The share of active patents from the global value in Uzbekistan was 0.01%, which is significantly less compared to the leading countries. The number of researchers in terms of 1 million people in the world is 1341 people. In the Republic of Korea (the leader) – 8713 people, in China (the lowest value) – 1584. In Uzbekistan, this figure reaches 1002 people, which is 2 times less than the world value and 10 times less than the leader of the Republic of Korea. The Nature Index rating was used to assess publication activity, because it is necessary to calculate not only the number, but also the quality of publications. The leader in the Nature Index ranking is the USA, where the share of the total number of articles in the index was 21.4% and China with a share of 19.1%. 106 Main Science and Technology Indicators, Volume 2021 Issue 1. OECD // URL: https://read.oecd- ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/main-science-and-technology-indicators/volume-2021/issue-1_eea67efc- en#page1 107 Dobrovic J. et al. Competitiveness measurement in terms of the Europe 2020 strategy //Journal of competitiveness. – 2018. – Т. 10. – №. 4. – С. 21-37. 333

Uzbekistan ranks 74th in the ranking out of 179 countries, and the share of articles from the total number was 0.04%. Table 2.1 R&D indicators used to determine a country's competitiveness. 2020 2020 2020 Sep. 2021–Aug. 2022 Variable R&D Share of active Share of Share of reputable expenditure patents (%) scientists per articlesindexed in in GDP (%) 1mln population Nature Index (%) (full time) Korea R. 4,81 6,9 8 713 2,1 USA 3,45 21,1 4 821* 21,4 Japan 3,27 12,9 5 454 3,9 Germany 3,13 5,3 5 393 7,3 China 2,4 19,3 1 584 19,1 World 1,92 100,0 1 341 100,0 Uzbekistan 0,13 0,01 1002 0,04 *Compiled according to sources: [108], [109], [110], [111]. *Number of researchers per 1 million population in the USA for 2019. **The leader in each column is highlighted in green, the laggard in orange. The lines \"Uzbekistan\" and \"World\" are not used in the definition of a leader/laggard. ***Data on Uzbekistan for 2021. Global Innovation Index – 2022. To analyze the competitiveness of the country in the context of innovation activity, the indicators of the Global Innovation Index (GII) were used[37]. The index is divided into several sub-indexes (factors), each of which, in turn, is divided into intermediate categories. The annual reports of the GII by country divide the intermediate categories into \"strong\" and \"weak\", as well as all the others. Taking into account the importance and urgency of the country's transition to an innovative path, the Head of State in the Strategy of Actions for five priority areas of Development in 2017-2021 set the task of Uzbekistan's entry into the top 50 countries of the GII rating by 2030. After a long break since 2015, Uzbekistan re-entered the GII in 2020 and took 93rd place. In 2021, the country rose by 7 positions, and in 2022 by another 4, taking 82nd place out of 132. Undoubtedly, this progress is evidence of the results of the country's systemic policy to stimulate innovation activity. 108 Gross domestic spending on R&D. OECD // URL: https://data.oecd.org/rd/gross-domestic-spending-on-r-d.htm 109 Statistical Country Profiles. World Intellectual Property Organization // URL: https://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/country_profile/ 110 Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D per researcher. UNESCO // URL: http://data.uis.unesco.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=SCN_DS&lang=en 111 Country/territory research output table. Nature Index // URL: https://www.nature.com/nature-index/country- outputs/generate/all/global 37 Global Innovation Index 2022 // URL: https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/gii-2022-report 334

For the first time in the history of the GII rating, Uzbekistan was among the 26 countries that exceeded expectations for innovative development and achieved high efficiency in this area, regardless of the level of innovation costs in GDP per capita. Figure 2.1. Positive relationship between innovation and development *Bubble size by population. The trend line in the form of a cubic spline shows the expected levels of innovation efficiency at different levels of GDP per capita for all countries included in the GII 2022. It should also be noted that according to the report of the GII 2022, experts have identified \"Global Leaders in Innovation\" for 3 countries from regions of the world, including Uzbekistan for the first time (Table 2.2). 335

Table 2.2 Global Leaders in Innovation in 2022 World regions / Top 3 World regions / Top 3 economies/leading countries in economies/leading countries in innovations innovations 1. Latin America and Caribbean 4. Southeast Asia and Oceania: Caribbean: 1. Republic of Korea 1. Chile 2. Singapore 2. Brazil 3. China 3. Mexico 2. Sub-Saharan Africa: 5. North America: 1. South Africa 1. USA 2. Botswana 2. Canada 3. Kenya 3. North Africa and West Asia: 6. Европа: 1. Israil 1. Switzerland 2. UAE 2. Sweden 3. Turkey 3. UK 7. Central and South Asia: 1. India 2. Iran 3. Uzbekistan *Compiled according to the Global Innovation Index 2022 report In 2022, Uzbekistan demonstrated better indicators for introduced innovations than for the results of innovative activity. The country ranks 68th in terms of contribution to innovation, which is higher than in 2021 and 2020. As for the results of innovation activity, Uzbekistan ranks 91st. This position is also higher than in previous years. Table 2.3 Ratings of Uzbekistan in the GII (2020-2022) Year Position in GII Contribution to Results of innovation ranking innovation activity 2022 82 68 91 2021 86 75 100 2020 93 81 118 *Compiled according to the Global Innovation Index 2020-2022 report One of the important indicators in the GII rating, which has been taken into account since 2019, is the indicator \"Achievements in the field of innovation above the expected result\", which is compiled annually by GII experts for all four groups of countries in terms of per capita income. This list includes those countries that have achieved high indicators in terms of innovative development, including, despite limited opportunities and levels of socio-economic development of the country. It is important to note that since 2020, Uzbekistan is included in this list from the group of countries with a lower-average income per capita. In this regard, 336

summing up countries with a lower-average income per capita will allow us to identify the most developing countries of this group (Table 2.4.). Table 2.4 Countries with \"Achievements in the field of innovation above the expected result\" from the group of countries with below average per capita income # 2020 2021 2022 1. Vietnam Vietnam India 2. Ukraine India Vietnam 3. India Ukraine Iran 4. Republic of Moldova Philippines Ukraine 5. Philippines Mongolia Philippines 6. Mongolia Republic of Moldova Morocco 7. Tunisia Tunisia Mongolia 8. Kenya Morocco Tunisia 9. Morocco Kenya Indonesia 10. Kyrgyzstan Republic of Tanzania Uzbekistan 11. Senegal Uzbekistan Pakistan 12. Indonesia Cape Verde Kenya 13. El Salvador El Salvador Republic of Tanzania 14. Zimbabwe Kyrgyzstan Zimbabwe 15. Uzbekistan Pakistan 16. Honduras Bolivia 17. Cape Verde Senegal 18. Cambodia Honduras 19. Ivory Coast Cambodia 20. Pakistan Nepal 21. Ghana Ghana 22. Egypt Zimbabwe 23. Cameroon Egypt 24. Bolivia Sri Lanka 25. Bangladesh Ivory Coast 26. Zambia Bangladesh 27. Nigeria Lao DPRK 28. Lao DPRK Nigeria 29. Myanmar Algeria 30. Cameroon 31. Myanmar 32. Benin 33. Angola *Compiled according to the Global Innovation Index 2019-2022 report From the indicators in Table 2.4. it can be seen that since 2020 Uzbekistan has been taking pride of place in this list and there has been an improvement in its position from year to year. This fact allows us to conclude about the formation of a competitive innovation system in Uzbekistan. According to the data on this indicator, the experts of the GII on the levels of income per capita, along with Uzbekistan, stand out the CIS countries, including Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan. In 2022, the following changes are observed in the structure of Uzbekistan's strengths and weaknesses according to the GII rating: 337

− Among the strong indicators of Uzbekistan in the GII rating, new criteria \"Cooperation between the university and industry in the field of research and development\" and \"The state of cluster development and its depth\" have appeared. The indicators \"Graduates of scientific and engineering specialties\", \"Gross capital accumulation\", \"Labor productivity growth\" rose by one point. A large increase in the rating was demonstrated by the indicator \"Utility models by origin\" (+4 p.). − In the weak indicators of Uzbekistan, the criteria \"Rule of law\", \"ISO 14001 Environmental certificates\" were added. The indicator \"Inbound mobility of higher education\" worsened by one point and the indicator \"Creation of mobile applications\" decreased by eight points. Table 2.5 Strong and weak indicators of Uzbekistan's GII rating 2022 Strong indicators Ranking Weak indicators Ranking Policy of doing business 22 Quality of the regulatory 123 environment 123 106 Student-teacher ratio, average 37 Supremacy of law 38 72 Graduates of scientific and 6 Inbound mobility of higher 125 engineering specialties, % education, % 93 Government Online Service 46 Global corporate investors in R&D, Top 3, USD million 124 132 Gross capital accumulation, % of 6 QS University Ranking, top 3 107 GDP Diversification of domestic 37 Environmental certificates ISO industry 14001/ PPP$ by GDP, billion Cooperation between the 29 Gross domestic R&D expenditure university and industry in the field financed from abroad, % of GDP of research and development The state of cluster development 27 Scientific and technical and its depth articles/PPP$ by GDP, billion Utility models by origin/billion 18 Shared Top-level Domains PPP,$ GDP (TLD)/15-69 Labor productivity growth, % 7 Creation of mobile applications/billion PPP$ by GDP *Compiled according to the Global Innovation Index 2022 In general, according to the Global Innovation Index 2022 report, the following key conclusions can be drawn for Uzbekistan: 1. For the first time (in 2021), Uzbekistan entered the top ten countries of the GII rating with an income level below the average per capita and retained this position in 2022. The methodology of the GII rating is based on macroeconomic indicators, one of such indicators is the level of the country's income per capita, therefore, grouping the GII rating by this indicator and their summation allowed us to conclude that: 338

− the number of countries with a high level of income per capita has increased from year to year, respectively, the number of countries with an above- average, below-average income and countries with a low level of income per capita in the ranking has decreased; − the most competitive countries have been identified based on the allocation of the top ten countries of each group of per capita income. This grouping allowed us to conclude that active competition was observed in all groups, respectively, the countries that retained their positions in each group are the most competitive; − it was revealed that in the group of countries with an income level below the average per capita, Uzbekistan for the first time in 2021, entered the top ten countries of this group and retained this position in 2022. 2. The possibility of Uzbekistan's entry into the top 50 countries of the GII rating by 2030 has been identified and substantiated. The task set by the Head of State to make the country one of the 50 advanced countries in the GII rating by 2030 served as the basis for conducting a study of this group, results of which can be concluded such that: − countries of 3 categories participated in the group of 50 advanced countries: high-income countries; upper-middle-income countries; lower- middle-income countries per capita. Low-income countries were not included in this group; − in the group of 50 advanced countries, the number of countries with a lower-than-average per capita income has increased, against a decrease in the number of high-income countries. This fact allows us to conclude that the achievement of high ratings in the GII does not depend on the level of the country's income per capita and, accordingly, is not an obstacle to the innovative development of the country. 3. The world recognition of Uzbekistan in building an innovative economy has been achieved. One of the important indicators in the GII rating, which has been taken into account since 2019, is the indicator \"Achievements in the field of innovation above the expected result\" compiled by GII experts. − Based on the analysis of this indicator, it was revealed that Uzbekistan is included in this list from 2020 from the group of countries with an income level below the average per capita, and summing up this indicator for 2019-2022 made it possible to identify the country's increasing position from year to year. Accordingly, this allows us to conclude about the formation of a competitive innovative economy in Uzbekistan. This fact is also confirmed by the recognition of the country as the first leader in innovation (in 2022) in the Central and South Asia region. 4. The countries accompanying Uzbekistan's entry into the group of 50 advanced countries of the GII rating have been identified. The analysis of the Top-50 countries of the GII rating in terms of per capita income in 2022 and the indicator \"Achievements in the field of innovation above 339

the expected result\" for 2019-2022 made it possible to identify countries accompanying Uzbekistan in entering the group of 50 advanced countries of the GII rating, including India and Vietnam. A comparative analysis of the rating indicators of these countries allows us to conclude that, given Uzbekistan's lagging position on the Human Capital and Research index, this indicator of India should be studied in detail, where the highest indicator was achieved during the analyzed period. 5. Among the CIS countries, the highest level of growth was achieved in Uzbekistan. The analysis of the GII rating indicators for the CIS countries allows us to conclude that: in many CIS countries, the strongest and weakest indices do not differ much and in some cases are the same. However, none of the CIS countries has identified the Infrastructure index as a strong index; among the CIS countries, the highest result was achieved by Armenia on the \"Institutions\" index and the most lagging position in Tajikistan on the \"Business Development Level\" index. Uzbekistan received a high ranking on the index \"Level of market development\". considering that one of the lagging indices of Uzbekistan is \"Human capital and scientific research\", taking into account the socio-economic state of development, as a foreign experience, studying the experience of Kazakhstan (in this direction) will be useful for Uzbekistan. Since the analysis shows that, among the CIS countries on the index \"Human capital and scientific research\" Kazakhstan has achieved the highest result. 2.2. International development of science in Uzbekistan International relations are necessary for the full functioning and development of science and scientific activity in the modern world. The state creates all the necessary conditions for the international development of science and innovation. As part of the analysis of the international development of science and innovation of the country, the directions of the development of international relations in the field of science and innovation were studied, information was provided on the events held, joint projects and areas of cooperation with foreign organizations. The total number of international research projects of the Republic of Uzbekistan currently operating is 118 units. At the same time, the number of applications for financing is 540 units. Cooperation between Uzbekistan and Belarus accounts for the largest number of funded projects. India, China, Germany and Turkey are also among the top five in this indicator. 340

Table 2.6 International research projects implemented by the Ministry of Innovative Development Partner country Number of Number of Performan Total Period of funded application ce implementa projects amount of s financing tion (billion sum) 30 72 2,4 26,4 2021-2023 Uzbekistan-Belarus 15 33 2,2 7,6 2019-2021 Uzbekistan-India 23 127 5,5 27,4 2021-2023 Uzbekistan-China 20 61 3,1 19,4 2021-2023 Uzbekistan-Germany 10 71 7,1 - - 6 11 1,8 0,7 2019-2020 Uzbekistan-Turkey 4 38 9,5 3,8 2020-2022 3 38 12,7 3 2021-2023 Uzbekistan-Hungary 3 12 4,0 2,9 2022-2023 Uzbekistan-Russia 2 39 19,5 1,8 2019-2022 Uzbekistan-EAPS 2 38 19,0 3 2021-2023 Total 118 540 4,6 96 - *Compiled according to the data of the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan The overall effectiveness of international project activities is 4.6 applications submitted per one successfully funded project. In the context of countries, cooperation with Germany was most effective in the period 2019-2020. 1.8 applications for a successful project, and Belarus – less than 2.5 applications per 1 project that received funding. Cooperation with Russia is the least effective – 19.5 applications per 1 successful project and EAPS – 19 applications per 1 successful project. Expansion of international cooperation in the field of science and innovation. During 2022, the Ministry of Innovative Development carried out work to establish and expand cooperation with more than 25 countries and international organizations. As a result of negotiations between the Ministry and foreign countries, 25 memoranda (+7 compared to 2021) totaling $15 million and 143 (+42 compared to 2021) agreements worth almost $90 million were signed. Agreements have been reached on cooperation and exchange of experience with 12 Hungarian organizations and companies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary, the Association of Industrial, Scientific, Innovation and Technology Parks, leading research institutes and universities. 341

A trilateral agreement was signed between the Kurchatov Institute Research Institute, the Ministry and the Agency for Regulation of the Alcohol and Tobacco Market and the Development of Winemaking of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Within the framework of this agreement, joint research has been initiated, namely: − in order to determine the nucleotide sequence of the complete genomes of 14 local oldest grape varieties, DNA materials provided by the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics have been transferred for reading (sequencing) their complete genomes on large-scale DNA sequencers based on the Kurchatov Institute. − in order to introduce new grape strains into the wine industry, a comparative study of the genomes of industrial strains of microorganisms existing in the republic with more than 25 thousand strains of microbes stored in the unique collection of industrial microorganisms of the Kurchatov Institute was carried out; − in order to study the best practices of working with sequencers and bioreactors of a new generation, a program of short-term scientific internships at the Kurchatov Institute for Uzbek scientists and specialists has been developed. During 2022, the Ministry held 2 international events, organized 25 high- level meetings, and signed 5 international documents. In particular, the sixth meeting of the leaders of science and technology of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) took place. The event was attended by Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Science, Education and Innovation of Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Ambassadors of Pakistan, India, China. In order to develop and strengthen international relations in the field of science and innovation with Turkey, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, India, Hungary, Greece, Belarus and the Russian Federation, foreign trips were organized, which resulted in the following results: 1. Memoranda and other types of international documents have been signed with the Government of China, the Vice President for Science and Technology of Iran, the Pardis Technopark of Iran, the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Environmental Protection Organization \"ESA\". 2. Uzbekistan and China have signed a program for the implementation of an Intergovernmental agreement on Science, Technology and Innovation with the aim of developing cooperation in this direction and jointly combating the COVID- 19 pandemic. Participated in the clinical trials of the COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine jointly with the Chinese company \"Zhifei Longcom\". The \"SCO Telemedicine Concept\" has been developed for cooperation in the field of telemedicine between the SCO countries. 3. Within the framework of international cooperation in the field of innovation and technology transfer, funds of the World Bank, TIKA and USAID in the amount of US$ 780 were attracted for the development of regional infrastructure in the social, agricultural and energy spheres. 342

4. Agreements have been reached between Uzbekistan and Tatarstan on cooperation in the field of science, innovation and technology. In parallel, negotiations were held on the implementation of joint startup projects and the organization of advanced training courses in the direction of \"Innovation Management\" at leading universities of Tatarstan and the SEZ \"Innopolis\". 5. An agreement was reached with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary to hold a start-up project competition in the amount of 2 million euros, a decision was made to send 25 Uzbek young scientists for an internship in the field of agriculture, to allocate 50 grant quotas to young Uzbek scientists and researchers for doctoral studies and 20 grant quotas in the field of physical culture and sports. 6. During the official visit of the Ministry's representatives to Turkey, 6 agreements were signed. As a result, an agreement was reached on the allocation of 8 grants for doctoral studies in three leading scientific and educational institutions in Turkey, on the organization of short-term internships for 40 young research scientists in 4 scientific organizations, on attracting 8 residents of Turkish technoparks to localize their products in Uzbekistan. 7. Within the framework of the international exhibition \"Dubai Expo- 2020\" in the UAE on March 25-30, 2022, the delegation of the Ministry held exhibition events on innovations on the territory of the national pavilion. In order to ensure a high level of events, the Ministry, together with subordinate organizations (the Center for Advanced Technologies, the Youth Academy, the Yashnobad Innovation Technopark, the National Office for Innovation and Technology Transfer), demonstrated about 20 innovative technologies and startup projects in the field of medicine, agriculture, ecology, trade, urban infrastructure, information technology, construction, etc. In particular, startups and projects for the production of export-oriented medicinal biologically active additives from Jerusalem artichoke, for the introduction of cellular and regenerative technologies into medicine, for the development of vaccines and drugs against COVID-19, as well as the project “My garden in the Aral Sea”, created to improve the ecological condition of the dried bottom of the Aral Sea and the Aral Sea region, were presented. The latest achievements of Russian scientists in the field of biotechnology and biomedicine were presented at the exhibition for the first time. For example, for the treatment of deep lesions of the skin and soft tissues, the technology of a cellular component for bioequivalent skin has been developed. Biomedical products based on adult abdominal fat stem cells are being developed for the treatment of diseases of internal organs. During the exhibition, contracts totaling 2 million US dollars were signed, according to which Uzbekistan will export dietary products, bentonite pellets used in the metallurgical industry, construction materials and more. 8. On August 18-21, 2022, a visit was made to Saudi Arabia, during which negotiations were held and agreements were signed with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Riyadh and the King Abdullaziz City of Science and Technology (KACST) in Jeddah. Meetings were also held in 343

Riyadh with representatives of three state institutions and the presidents of Princess Nura University and Prince Sultan University. As a result of the meetings, agreements were reached on the training of 20 young scientists from Uzbekistan at the leading universities and research centers of the Kingdom, as well as on holding joint research competitions with a total cost of $ 1 million. In addition, it was decided to develop and sign drafts of three documents: an agreement on scientific, technical and innovative cooperation between the governments of the two countries, a cooperation agreement between King Abdullaziz University and the Ministry of Innovative Development, a cooperation agreement between Prince Sultan University and Gulistan State University. 9. On October 17-21, 2022, Tashkent hosted the annual fifth International Week of Innovative Ideas \"InnoWeek.uz-2022\" on the theme \"Green innovations for sustainable Development\". In total, 27 international events and 3 exhibitions were organized during the week. More than 850 different developments and modern innovative technologies of domestic (29) and foreign organizations (32) were presented at the exhibitions organized within the framework of \"InnoWeek.uz-2022\". InnoWeek.uz-2022 was attended by more than 21,000 representatives from 27 countries and more than 150 international organizations (Germany, Belarus, Turkey, Iran, South Korea, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, India, Russia, UAE, Japan, China, Hungary, etc.). Within the framework of InnoWeek.uz-2022, 120 B2B meetings were organized, where 131 deals were concluded for the purchase of innovative products and the introduction of new developments/technologies totaling 46.2 billion soums, and 24 trade agreements totaling 6.1 million and 14 export contracts totaling 9.4 thousand USdollars were signed. In addition, 18 investment agreements totaling US$ 78 million, as well as 13 memorandums of cooperation worth US$ 14.6 million were signed with organizations of Turkey, Iran, China, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, South Korea and Azerbaijan. In cooperation with Germany, Hungary, South Korea and Iran, agreements have been reached on technology transfer to 28 innovative districts starting from 2023. At the startup projects exhibition, 3 export contracts and one memorandum worth 370 thousand US dollars were signed. 344

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3 ANALYSIS OF THE ECOSYSTEM OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN 3.1. Map of participants of the support system in Science and innovation Effective development of science and innovation in the country requires the launch and functioning of systemic processes aimed at long-term productive interaction of the scientific community, business and the state. Today, the ecosystem of the development of science and innovation in Uzbekistan can be called dynamically emerging. The state is actively carrying out reforms, approaches to the interaction of all participants are being transformed, new institutional structures are being created. There is a need to stimulate competition for the development of the market of innovative products and services. In the Strategy of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2022-2026, the innovation ecosystem encompasses interrelated \"disruptive\", \"sustainable\" and \"efficient\" innovations. \"Breakthrough\" innovations create new types of products or services, which in most cases require capital investment, but are of great importance because they contribute to the creation of new jobs. \"Sustainable\" innovations do not create new jobs and do not require large investments, but they stabilize the market and ensure the attractiveness of \"breakthrough\" innovations. \"Efficient\" innovations scale \"sustainable\" innovations and create large amounts of capital. Participants of the current ecosystem of the development of science and innovation in Uzbekistan can be grouped into 6 specializations: system education (public administration); training (educational sector); generation of knowledge and ideas; financing of science and innovation; infrastructural support and commercialization of innovative and scientific projects; development of culture to maintain and popularize science and innovation. The state acts as a system-forming body in the realization of the scientific and innovative potential of the country. The Ministry of Innovation Development is directly involved in the development of science and innovation, which includes 5 key organizations: the National Office for Innovation and Technology Transfer, the Center for Advanced Technologies, the Center for Scientific and Technical Information, the Youth Innovation Center and the International Center for Molecular Allergology. Also, the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education, the Ministry for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications, the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and other central state and local executive bodies are involved in the implementation of the innovation development strategy. 346

21 Figure 3.1 Elements of the ecosystem of science and innovation development in Uzbekistan for 2022. *Compiled by the author according to the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan 347

Personnel training is the most important task for the development of science and innovation. Training specialists in the field of science and innovative entrepreneurship requires practical orientation, international integration and access to relevant knowledge. In Uzbekistan, universities and research institutes of the Academy of Sciences are engaged in personnel training. According to the latest data, there are 144 universities in the country, of which 115 are local and 29 are foreign and with international cooperation and 80 research institutes. A separate group of participants in the ecosystem of science and innovation development are \"think tanks\". Their activities are focused on generating knowledge and ideas by conducting qualitative research in strategically important areas. In total, there are 19 think tanks operating in the country, half of which are state–owned and research enterprises. It is worth noting that the function of generating knowledge and ideas can be carried by all participants of the ecosystem. Financing of science and innovation refers to high-risk investments because it requires long-term financing and brings unpredictable results. Nevertheless, the economy of the developed countries of the world is built around the introduction of innovations and the development of science. In developing countries, there is an acute shortage of financing in these sectors, so it is necessary to create conditions for attracting finance from as many sources as possible. In particular, these are conditions such as simplification of investment attraction processes, updating of legislative acts for modern financial instruments, etc. There are 4 state funds in Uzbekistan that finance science and innovation, as well as several international organizations, such as the World Bank, ADB, IDB, UNDP and UNESCO. For commercialization of innovative and scientific projects Special economic zones and technoparks have been created in Uzbekistan. There are 23 SEZs in the country in priority sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, mechanical engineering, construction and 15 technoparks, of which 6 are youth. In total, 9 regions of the country are covered by technoparks, while 5 technoparks are located in the city of Tashkent. The tasks of the SEZ include attracting domestic and foreign capital, transfer of advanced technologies and accumulation of managerial experience. The key task of technoparks is to organize the subjects of innovation activity that make up the country's innovation infrastructure. Special attention needs to be paid to the development of a culture that would contribute to the popularization of science and innovation, the formation of effective communications between all participants in the innovation system. The most popular tools that shape culture include mass media, social networks, platforms (coworking, hubs), libraries, thematic events, attracting opinion leaders, etc. There is one republican council of the trade Union of education, Science and Culture workers in the country, \"Scientific and Technical Society of Radio Engineering, Electronics and Communications of the Republic of Uzbekistan\", \"Uzbek Scientific and Engineering Society of the Oil and Gas Industry\". The interaction of participants in the ecosystem of the development of science and innovation has a synergistic effect. It is necessary to combine such factors as: knowledge generation, i.e. research, skills of researchers, business representatives, 348

resource and tool base, as well as the formation and development of a community. At the same time, the order of development may vary, but the missing elements must be compensated, otherwise the innovation process will be chaotic and unstable. 3.2. The role and influence of the state, business and society on the formation of a favorable environment for the development of science and innovation When creating a favorable environment for the development of innovation and science, it is necessary to take into account the opinions and interests of all stakeholders: their role and influence will determine the final result. Surveys, expert meetings, interviews and focus groups with representatives of science and business were conducted to analyze interests within the framework of this study. The study was conducted using the method of expert mutual assessment of the role of ecosystem participants. The experts were asked to evaluate the current results of science and innovation in the country and the prospects for further development. The quota sample of scientists by academic degree was 1,256 respondents, including doctoral students. As a result of the survey, most of the respondents highly appreciate the importance of the development of science and technology. The share of respondents who scored the highest was 66.5%, and the average score according to the criterion was 8.91 points. Assessment of the quality of science in Uzbekistan 20,88% 19,29% 14,02% 13,73% 7,30% 8,31% 56 7 8,09% 1,52% 2,53% 1 low, 10 high 4,34% 1234 8 9 10 Figure 3.2 Please rate the quality of science in Uzbekistan, where 1 is low quality, 10 is high quality 349