Importance of good moral conduct What is the importance of this concept compared to other practices, such as meditation in the Buddhist way of life?
It leads to non-regret,
one who has non-regret gets serene
one who gets serene gets concentrated

So it acts as foundation for concentration, meditative methods use and further develope that same concentration faculty which in turn supports developement of discernment and wisdom.

Sutta references:
 AN 10.2 &amp; AN 11.2