Uzbekistan to create agricultural machinery in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan

Uzbekistan is looking to expand its agricultural sector by establishing major assembly plants for agricultural machinery in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. This move is part of the country's plan to double its textile production and improve the value-added chain by 2026, Azernews reports.

This was announced during a visit by Olimkhon Rustamov, Deputy Minister of Investments, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan, to agricultural machinery enterprises in the Chirchik city of the Tashkent region.

"In order to expand industrial cooperation, we are planning to establish large-scale assembly plants for agricultural machinery in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Negotiations with partners are already in the final stage," the ministry said.

According to the World Bank, Uzbekistan ranks among the bottom 20 countries in the world in terms of water productivity, producing only $0.6 per cubic meter of water compared with a global average of $15 per cubic meter. To improve the country's food security, the Government of Uzbekistan has emphasized wheat production and supported poultry and animal farming over the past few years.

In June 2021, Uzbekistan and Russia signed an agreement and in November 2021 launched the Agroexpress logistical corridor project, which will allow the delivery of agro-food products in refrigerator container trains within 4-7 days. In February 2022, the prime ministers of EAEU countries approved the implementation of the Eurasian AgroExpress project to facilitate trade with and expedite the delivery of agro-food products to Uzbekistan and China.

The government hopes to increase farmers' income by twice at least and ensure a minimum 5% annual growth of agriculture in 2022-2026 through intensive development programs, application of advanced scientific achievements, digitalization, and adoption of new technologies. To achieve this, the government is subsidizing the adoption of water-saving technologies and plans to save at least 7 billion cubic meters of water by 2026 through efficiency improvements.

The government also plans to offer small family farms ten-year horticulture leases on 200,000 hectares of cotton and grain land transferred from large farms and clusters and allocate $100 million for supporting loans. Moreover, loans and grants in the amount of $600 million will be attracted to digitalize agriculture, increase land fertility, and introduce modern agricultural technologies.

To further develop processing and packaging capabilities to add value to domestic and export products, the government is supporting the creation of vertically integrated clusters. As of September 2021, 463 of these clusters had been registered.