Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijan is planning to develop its agro-food chain. This was announced by Head of the Presidential Administration's Agrarian Policy Department Azer Amiraslanov at an international forum on ways to involve privatete sector in agro-food field.

"Today no country in the world is able to resolve its problems without developing an effective agro-food chain. The competition in the sphere of production of agricultural goods in Azerbaijan is more serious compared to other spheres.Various producers operate in the country, however, it is still important to promote competition in the subfields of logistics, processing and sale of agricultural products," he noted.

Amiraslanov went on to say that agriculture sector doesn't have diversified its sales channels in Azerbaijan. Furthermore, there are numerous sectors intermediating between the producer and customer.

"Today the main goal of our agrarian policy is to ensure efficiency of the agricultural chain. It is important to remove all obstacles in the way of the chain and to ensure equitable distribution of added value which is formed while transferring from one sector to another. It is also important that the private sector step into the fray. The chain should be extended to the export of products abroad, and we should not be limited to the internal market. For this purpose, we plan to establish some logistics centers," he stressed.

Amiraslanov also recalled the decree issued by President Ilham Aliyev on January 16 on adopting additional measures for improving the food market and agricultural products.

The document noted that the Agriculture Ministry and the bodies of the local executive power should submit their proposals on supporting the establishment of shop networks to Azerbaijan's president within a month.

Particularly, the document said Azerbaijan will establish a network of specialized farmer stores and 'green' shops which will operate in Baku's districts and large cities of the country on a permanent basis.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Economy and Industry Minister Sevinj Hasanova said almost the whole volume of agricultural production in Azerbaijan is carried out by the private sector.

"Significant increase of production in Azerbaijan's agricultural sector, contrary to the Soviet period, was achieved thanks to the efforts of private entrepreneurs. Today the private sector provides almost 100 percent of agricultural production in the country," she said.

Hasanova went on to note that agriculture became one of the few sectors that continued to show growth in difficult global economic conditions. "Ensuring food safety is one of the main priorities of Azerbaijan's government," she added.

"The state programs in this field being implemented in the country since 2001 play an important role in increasing the volume of production of agricultural goods and improving the level of public supply," she said.

Hasanova also noted that the diversification of the national economy and development of non-oil exports is on the agenda.

"In this regard, the agro-industrial complex will play a crucial role to create new working places and to rise incomes. The Azerbaijani government provides all kinds of support to the agricultural producers. This support is provided through the issuance of preferential loans from the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support and the mechanisms of concessional leasing of agricultural machineries, as well as through tax breaks and other means," she stressed.

In his remarks Deputy Agriculture Minister Ilham Guliyev said the state policy is based on agricultural development and supporting the entrepreneurial initiatives.

He also noted the strategy of development of the agro-industrial of Azerbaijan will cover all works to improve the efficiency of the agro-food chain.