Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A special webinar on Tuesday brought together over 100 executives, investors, officials, and analysts from 21 countries for presentations and discussions on the development of the agribusiness sector in Uzbekistan.

The webinar was the second in a series of online meetings organized by Eurasian Investor. The attendees were welcomed by Ambassador Said Rustamov, Uzbekistan’s envoy to the United Kingdom and Ambassador Tim Torlot, the British ambassador in Tashkent. Both ambassadors highlighted the significant potential of the agribusiness sector as a basis of stronger bilateral economic relations between their countries.

Ambassador Rustamov also noted the steps being taken by the Uzbek government to liberalize the sector through the elimination of production quotas and price controls, as well as the move away from monoculture production that was overwhelmingly focused on cotton.

The targets for development of the agribusiness sector are ambitious and Uzbekistan will need to move beyond historic reliance on Russia and Kazakhstan as destinations for its agricultural exports to meet them.

Simon Glancy, managing partner of Strategic Solutions, provided an overview of Uzbekistan’s “2030” agricultural development strategy, which targets $20 billion in agricultural exports by 2030, up from a total of $2.3 billion in 2018.

To date, most foreign direct investment has been focused on equipping Uzbek producers with the means to increase the scale of production available for export and to improve the quality and suitability of products. Looking to 2020 figures, nearly $80 million of foreign direct investment has been committed for the construction of high-tech greenhouses, while $75 million has been committed for the installation of new fruit and vegetable processing and storage facilities.

Igor Kolesnikov, the CEO of BAT Uzbekistan, discussed the unique investment that the multinational tobacco firm has made in the agricultural sector in Uzbekistan. BAT’s joint venture partnership with SamFruit, an exported-oriented producer in Samarkand, is targeting 10 times growth in export volumes on the back on significant new investment in production capacity.

Husan Haydarov, commercial director of GDF export, detailed how his company has imported equipment from European suppliers over the last few years, including refrigeration equipment from Dutch company Celtic Cooling and equipment from Octofrost, a Swedish firm, for the production of frozen fruit.

These technologies have enabled Uzbek producers to improve the quality of their products and achieve important certifications for food safety, explained Wais Qais, Director of AKS Services. Last year, AKS facilitated the export of Uzbek cherries to the UK market. Qais noted that Uzbekistan’s agricultural sector is dominated by small farms, making it difficult to meet the purchasing requirements of the largest international buyers, who need a highly consistent supply of product at large volumes.

The importance of scale was also raised by Bekzod Mamatkulov, chairman of BMB Trade Group. His company, among the largest agricultural exporters in Uzbekistan, is currently developing several projects focused on vertical integration and the improvement of logistics infrastructure. BMB has partnered with National Reserve Corporation, owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev, on an $80 million project to strengthen the agricultural supply chain.

Simon Glancy concluded the webinar by noting the importance of developing a global brand for Uzbek fruits and vegetables, and suggested that the increase in tourism to Uzbekistan can be an important way by which European consumers are introduced to the excellent quality and taste of Uzbek produce.

Eurasian Investor and Adam Smith Conferences, plan further webinars focused on various economic sectors in Uzbekistan and the wider region of Central Asia. The companies will be organizing the next edition of the UzInvest Forum on 3-4 February 2021, which will include the twenty-five year anniversary of the Uzbek-British Trade and Industry Council.