Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Production of the packaging materials will be increased in Azerbaijan and the government will provide additional support to this field, the Economy Ministry told Trend.

The Ministry stressed that this sector will be in the spotlight to ensure production of higher-quality packaging materials, adding it will play an important role in creating Azerbaijan’s national brand.

Recently President Ilham Aliyev touched upon the need to boost production of packaging materials in 2016 at the conference dedicated to the results of the second year implementation of "The State Program on socio-economic development of the regions of Azerbaijan in 2014-2018".

“Packaging materials are used in every stage of production and it’s obvious that this sphere has been neglected in Azerbaijan. New plants for the production of cardboard should be constructed. We are 50 percent dependent on the foreign materials. And it should gradually be eliminated,” stressed the President.

The Ministry noted the importance of manufacturing high-quality packaging, so that the products are not spoiled during the export.

“We already have enterprises engaged in production of packaging products. Now it’s important to improve their quality. Enterprises will get loanss, and their products will be offered to domestic producers,” the ministry reported.

The local packing enables to reduce the product cost, according to the ministry.

“The purchase of packaging abroad automatically increases the cost of production. When using the local packaging, the expenditures decline that have a positive impact not only on the local consumer market, but also on the export potential of products. After all, the cheaper product, the more competitive it is in foreign markets,” the ministry said.

The Ministry added that the government has allocated loans to 6.2 million manats (about $3.8 million) to support the two companies for the production of packaging materials located in Khokmali and Ramani settlements.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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