Azerbaijan’s agriculture shows sustainable growth rate

By Rasana Gasimova

As a result of the large-scale agrarian reforms carried out by the government, Azerbaijan’s agriculture has shown sustainable development pattern in 2019.

The country’s agriculture increased by 7.1 percent year-on-year in January-October 2019 and the share of the agrarian sector in GDP reached 6.2 percent, Deputy Agriculture Minister Elchin Zeynalov said at the opening of the 5th meeting of agriculture experts from the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states.

“Forming new economic relations, structuring management of the sector in line with the modern requirements, improvement of government support policies, and promotion of products competitiveness are among the factors contributing to the development of this sector in recent years,” the minister said.

Zeynalov added that as a result of the large-scale agrarian reforms implemented in the country, the agricultural growth rate has become sustainable, and the dynamic development trend has continued throughout the year.

He went on saying that international cooperation at all stages of food security is necessary to achieve sustainable development goals, especially in agriculture.

“As you know, the ECO member states cooperate on both bilateral and international level. The organization is an important platform for the scientific research systems development, exchange of best practices, transfer of modern technologies and methodologies, implementation of joint research projects, sharing of scientific achievements and other cooperation among member countries,” Zeynalov added.

Addressing the event, ECO Director for Agriculture Industry and Tourism, Memduh Unal said that Azerbaijan has been successfully developing its non-oil sector in the last 15 years. He noted that the country is making a valuable contribution to the development of economic relations between member states.

The event was attended by representatives of the Azerbaijani Agriculture Ministry and its subordinated structures, representatives of the member countries’ Agriculture Ministries and relevant ECO bodies, representatives of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank.

The sides exchanged views on economic relations between the member states, especially in the field of agriculture. It was noted that ECO countries have great potential for increasing agricultural productivity and expanding interstate trade.

While underlining the importance of comprehensive follow-up and review of the implementation of the ECO Vision 2025, the participants agreed on the establishment of a networking system to enhance coordination among Privatization Organizations of Member States and the need to explore the possibility of the introduction of Production Chain Mechanism in the region. They also expressed interest in plans to enhance cross-regional trade through multiple measures, including implementation of ECO Trade Agreement (ECOTA) and the creation of an Investment Forum with the participation of Privatization Organizations of the ECO Member States and International Investors.

The event ended with the signing of the Baku Declaration on Privatization.

Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is an inter-governmental regional organization encompassing countries from Europe, Caucuses and Central Asia, Middle East and South Asia with more than 460 million inhabitants and over 8 million square kilometers connecting Russia to Persian Gulf and China to Europe. The overall objective of the Organization is the sustainable economic development of its Member States and the Region as a whole.

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