At the Agribusiness Development Forum, the head of ASK made proposals

The 2nd “Agribusiness Development Forum” was held in Baku. Organized by the Agrarian Credit and Development Agency (AKIA) under the Ministry of Agriculture, the purpose of the forum is to bring together the parties who have a role in the development of agribusiness in the country, and to share international and local experience, the current situation, opportunities, including financial support for agribusiness and discussing the necessary steps for more entrepreneurs to benefit from state benefits.

In his speech at the forum, the President of the Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs Confederation, Mr. Mammad Musayev, shared his views on the development of agriculture in our country and entrepreneurial activity in this field.

He noted that the development of the agricultural sector in Azerbaijan is an important issue both from the point of view of employment of the population and food security of our country. One of the main priority areas of the state’s economic policy is the development of the agricultural sector. The main goal of the adopted and successfully implemented state programs on agriculture, as well as the socio-economic development of regions, is the formation of the agricultural sector and the value chain in this area.

According to M.Musayev, hundreds of modern industrial enterprises, agroparks, new production areas, industrial parks in different regions were created in the country under the leadership of the Honorable President H.E. Ilham Aliyev. The share of domestic products in domestic demand has increased significantly, and export opportunities have expanded. As a result, the share of the non-oil sector in exports and the variety of products are also increasing.

In recent years, for the purpose of efficient use of agricultural lands, the mechanism for leasing and using these lands has been improved, the procedures for the export of agricultural products have been simplified, and customs and tax concessions have been introduced for export-oriented agricultural products.

As you know, under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the liberation of our occupied lands by our Victorious Army has created great opportunities for the restoration and redevelopment of agriculture in the region.

After the Patriotic War, the Great Return is the most important task facing our state. For two years now, all the reconstruction works carried out in Karabakh and East Zangezur create a favorable ground for the growth of future economic productivity, raising the standard of living and strengthening stability.

The inclusion of new areas in the crop rotation will increase crop production, the fertile lands of the region will increase the production of grains, vegetables and fruits, will stimulate the development of animal husbandry, and the construction of agro-processing enterprises will have a significant impact on the sustainable development of agriculture in the region.

The head of the Confederation said that in 2022, 5.0 percent of Azerbaijan’s Gross Domestic Product production will be accounted for by agriculture, and the production volume of agricultural products has increased by 3.4 percent compared to the corresponding period of last year. In 2022, the export value of agro-industrial products from our country amounted to 912.4 million US dollars, which is 12 percent more than the indicator of 2021.

As of January 1, 2023, only 3.1 percent or 629.1 million manats of the total credit investment in Azerbaijan is allocated to agriculture, forestry and fishing. Despite the fact that it covers a large part of the employed population in the country – 35 percent, the crediting of this sector is not at the desired level.

In order to further accelerate this development, we believe that there is a need to increase access to financial resources of agriculture, especially family farms in the regions, and further improve the insurance system. We consider the application of the current subsidy system in agriculture to be progressive.

“Effective use of lands and water resources in the field of agribusiness, construction of production areas that will create added value, including improvement of processing processes in the agricultural sector, increasing export opportunities and finding new export channels, implementation of modern technologies and a scientific approach, expanding the use of public-private partnership opportunities , supporting the value chain, we consider the further expansion of the work of educating entrepreneurs to be the main challenges,” said M. Musayev, wishing success to the work of the forum.