BISHKEK. Nov 23 (Interfax-AVN) - A crisis in Kyrgyzstan's defense industry and the whole industrial sector is hindering the country's economic development, Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev said at the first congress of Kyrgyz engineers on Friday.
Although steady growth was registered in agriculture, the industrial sector and the defense industry in particular failed to overcome the crisis, Akayev said. Industrial output dropped by 4% in the first 10 months of the year, compared to the same period in 2000.
During the Soviet era, Kyrgyzstan "was an industrial-agrarian republic," he said. However, the potential was "seriously depleted" due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and disruption of economic ties. The situation remained aggravated in the military-industrial sector, but the defense industry "must be preserved," he said.
Industrial output has plunged by 60% over the past 10 years. Problems permeating the defense industry will continue to deter Kyrgyzstan's development, he said.