Azernews.Az

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

First Agricultural Forum "Illinois - Azerbaijan" will be held in Chicago from April 3th to April 5th, Trend informs.

The forum, organized under the program of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce to expand trade and business relations of Azerbaijan with U.S. states, will bring together representatives of the agribusiness of Azerbaijan and the state of Illinois which is one of the leading U.S. agricultural states.

The purpose of the forum is to establish cooperation between the parties in the agricultural sector, acquaintance with U.S. technologies that allows rising yields, as well as new methods used in different fields of agriculture.

Within framework of the forum, there is scheduled speech by the Minister of Agriculture of Azerbaijan Inam Karimov, Chairman of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC) Reza Vaziri, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the U.S. Elin Suleymanov, Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Brock Birman, Senior Economist in Agriculture World Bank in the Europe and Central Asia region, Bekzod Shamsiyev, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan (AmCham) Natavan Mammadova, and other participants.

The forum participants will also discuss education and vocational training in the field of agriculture, successful cooperation mechanisms in the field of introducing innovations and increasing agricultural productivity, introducing modern technologies for the development of "smart farming".

The three-day forum includes visits by representatives of Azerbaijani companies to leading manufacturing enterprises of the state of Illinois, farms and research centers, as well as sites for the production of fertilizers and protein.

Note that the state of Illinois is one of the 10 leading agricultural states of the United States. 75 percent of the state’s land area is sown. The state’s annual profits from the sale of agricultural products alone amount to $ 19 billion.

It should be noted that development of agriculture is constantly in the spotlight of Azerbaijani government. The competitiveness of Azerbaijani agricultural products is growing, export opportunities are expanding. In most areas of the agricultural sector, production increases with the direct and indirect support of the state.

Moreover, state has enough potential and capabilities to use extensive and intensive ways of development to achieve goals which have been set, taking into account all economic indicators.

In addition, the recent implementation of the e-agriculture information system being created by the Ministry will serve to ensure transparency and flexibility in the agricultural sector, including the issuance of subsidies. Implementation of all services through e-government will create additional benefits for farmers.

They will increase their awareness, productivity and sales forecasting capabilities, as well as the opportunity to simplify public services and reduce documents, accessibility of services, and the introduction of new market mechanisms.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz