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Agricultural way out of hard times

16 February 2015 15:39 (UTC+04:00)
Agricultural way out of hard times

By Nigar Orujova

The deepening financial crisis amid the declining oil prices has once again highlighted the need of economic diversification for energy producing countries. For Azerbaijan, it is the right time to turn attention to agriculture, taking into account the tough situation in the region.

Foreign countries are now showing an increasing interest in agricultural products of Azerbaijan, which focused its efforts on developing the sector, declaring 2015 as the Agriculture Year.

Russia, Poland and Kazakhstan have already voiced interest in importing the agricultural products of Azerbaijan.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich has recently announced that Russia is counting on the Azerbaijani investors' participation in the projects of construction of logistics centers for agricultural products in the south and in the central region of the country.

Azerbaijani produce have become attractive to Russia following the recent western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine crisis in late 2014. Through Russia, Azerbaijan can enter the Eastern Europe's markets.

In addition, the country may start deliveries of meat and dairy products to other member states of the Customs Union.

Moreover, through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan may enter the Asian markets.

On the other side, Kazakhstan and Turkey want to increase export of agricultural products to Azerbaijan, which in turn will expand the local market.

The high quality Azerbaijani agricultural produce were always in demand in the markets of neighboring countries, however, earlier, the country didn't have enough capacity for export in this field.

Twenty-five years ago, Azerbaijan was supposed to be an industrial country depending on the import. However, the situation changed after fall of the Soviets, and now the country can provide itself with meat and dairy products by 92 and 76 percent, correspondingly.

Agriculture is one of the largest sectors of the country’s economy, which has a great potential and attraction for both local and foreign entrepreneurs.

This year was announced as the Year of Agriculture in Azerbaijan, which is expected to increase the pace of development of this sector. So far, the country has constructed agro parks and enterprises, farmers have been exempt from all taxes, except the land-tax and farming have been expanded and modernized.

Moreover, over 60 percent of concessional loans of the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support, were directed to the production and processing of agricultural produce last year.

These all point to the fact that in the future safe, high quality and delicious agricultural products of Azerbaijan will become more available in Europe and Asia.

Today, Azerbaijan is positioning itself as an export oriented country, and interest of the neighboring countries is only encouraging. Benefits for our country are more than obvious. Besides profit, it will reduce dependence on oil.

By enlarging the local market and being famous for its agricultural produce abroad, Azerbaijan may reach new frontiers in the near future.

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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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