The Tashkent International Investment Forum continues its work in the capital. Yesterday, the first agreements were signed on its site, panel discussions, sessions, and round tables were held. The second day is no less eventful – there are many topics for discussion on the agenda, one of which is renewed production and new markets for the agricultural industry.
The session under this title brought together both domestic and foreign experts. They discussed what steps are being taken to move towards higher value-added products, as well as the prospects for participation in this transformation for investors and the creation of high-paying jobs in rural areas while ensuring food security and developing exports.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture, General Director of the National Center for Knowledge and Innovation in Agriculture Alisher Turaev noted at once several important changes that have taken place to this day. Thus, the boycott of Uzbek cotton has been lifted, and we can return to the market with high-quality products. To support women and youth, a project was initiated to provide them with land in the amount of 10 acres to 1 hectare, and to date, 175,000 people have already received allotments. The digitalization of agriculture is being carried out so that every centimeter is covered by monitoring to eliminate corruption in the distribution of land. There is great potential for investors in every direction of agriculture. For example, it is necessary to restore depleted soil, introduce water-saving technologies, improve gardening, standardize manufactured products, and much more.
Kaspars Gerhards, the Minister of Agriculture of Latvia, in his speech made a special emphasis on the education of young farmers. Citing his country as an example, he noted that this is one of the key focuses in the development of the industry. Among the tools needed to increase the export of agricultural products of Uzbekistan, the minister named investment, the development of technological innovations together with the state, social partnership, certification and standardization of products, as well as targeted support for the agricultural sector, where there are significant successes.
“In Uzbekistan, the whole family works with me, and we share all the victories and difficulties with the Uzbeks,” said Dan Patterson, CEO of Silverleafe. — Yes, we faced some difficulties, but the reforms had a positive impact on our company’s opportunities here. Research is needed to build an understanding of the ecosystem and make investments even more targeted and useful. Conditions have been created for farmers to introduce water-saving technologies – this is very important these days. We will also continue to implement plans related to water-saving technologies in the country. Now we see a healthy climate of relations between the government and business, and for us, this is one of the incentives to continue and increase cooperation. We plan to open a logistics company and through it attract investments to develop the sphere of transparent and convenient deliveries.
For Uzbekistan, the agricultural sector is of fundamental importance, the industry accounts for 17% of the country’s GDP, more than a third of the working population works in this direction. The issues of export of domestic products and the possibility of attracting investments in this area were in the focus of attention of the speakers.
Lucas Casey, business development manager at the International Finance Corporation, noted that his organization is interested in investing in all areas of the Uzbek economy, including agriculture. Within the framework of cooperation with Rama company, projects related to fertilizers in Kokand and cotton processing in the Kashkadarya region have recently been invested. The expert noted that good infrastructure is important for the export of products, and these are good opportunities for investors. The implementation of another joint project helped lift the boycott of Uzbek cotton, which was abandoned by about 300 brands in 2013. Over the past 3 years, we have been working on this issue, and now, having achieved our goal, we can make plans for the sustainable development of this crop in Uzbekistan.
Nabil Gangi, FAO Deputy Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia, said that the joint work with Uzbekistan began in 2001. In the field of agriculture, experts see great prospects for investors and believe that special attention should be paid to finding ways to increase the income of farmers and young people, as well as food security issues – this topic is now relevant all over the world. If until 2017 Uzbekistan exported mainly cotton, now most of the goods sent abroad are fruits and vegetables, which became possible thanks to digitalization and technology. To continue the transformation, investments are needed – they will further expand the opportunities for workers in the sphere.