Minister of Foreign Trade speaks about export potential of fruits and vegetables of Uzbekistan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Minister of Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Jamshid Khodjaev, spoke about the work on increasing the export potential of fruits and vegetables of Uzbekistan during his speech on 28 March 2018 at the opening of the international scientific and practical conference "Increasing the Export Potential of Uzbekistan. The quality infrastructure and assessment of compliance with international standards. " The conference was organized by the Agency "Uzstandard" with the support of international organizations.

In the Republic of Uzbekistan, special attention is paid to growing and processing fruit and vegetable products. Soil-climatic conditions of Uzbekistan are favorable for production of a wide range of vegetable and melon crops, which are significantly superior in quality to similar products from other countries. One of the newest regulatory documents regulating development of the industry and increasing its competitiveness in the foreign markets of fruit and vegetable products was the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 30 March 2018 "On Additional Measures for Accelerated Development of Horticulture in the Republic of Uzbekistan".

Particular attention is paid in the document to the wide introduction and development of the cluster form of agricultural production in the field of fruit and vegetable products. This system envisages formation of a chain on the principle of "seeds - seedlings (seedlings) - growing products - harvesting - storage - processing - transportation - delivery to the market."

In his speech on 28 March, Jamshid Khodjaev noted that the significant increase in the volume of fruit and vegetable exports in Uzbekistan, there are all the necessary prerequisites: the free trade regime operating between several countries, developed and integrated transport infrastructure, and the flavoring qualities of the fruit. Within the framework of the implementation of the priority tasks, measures are being taken to increase the volumes and expand the range of export supplies of fresh and processed fruit and vegetable products and to develop new markets for its sale.

"67 specialized regions for growing export-oriented agricultural products have been created in the republic by introducing modern technologies," the minister said. - The agricultural sector of the country annually produces more than 21 million tons of fruits and vegetables. Over the past 25 years, the production of fruit and vegetables has quadrupled, including 9 times in grapes, 8 times in vegetables, 5 times in fruits, 8% in melons and 7 times in beans. Over 350 kinds of agricultural products are produced on the territory of the republic, of which over 180 names of fresh and processed fruit and vegetable products are exported to foreign markets. "

Also, the minister stressed that, according to available information, currently more than 160,000 farms operate in the country. The total area of greenhouses is 9 thousand hectares, with annual output of agricultural crops exceeding 600 thousand tons. The area of intensive gardens, according to data, has reached 45 thousand hectares.

Focusing on the issues of storage of agricultural products, the minister told about the enterprises created and modernized in recent years for industrial processing of agricultural products, construction of new refrigerating chambers.

"The total storage capacity of fruit and vegetable products in the republic has been brought up to 1 million tons, which makes it possible to ensure not only the country’s population the main types of agricultural products and without increasing seasonal price spikes during the year," he said. - Export of fresh and processed fruit and vegetable products for 2017, in physical volumes, increased by 116% or 107.8 thousand tons compared to the same period in 2016 and amounted to 904.1 thousand tons. The export of such products as fresh apples, garlic and almonds increased by 1.28 thousand, 4.4 thousand and 204.8 tons, respectively. "

The Minister also mentioned implementation of new projects for production of packaging products, noting that the packaging of fruit and vegetable products ensures the growth of competitiveness of products in foreign markets, allowing to preserve the taste and aesthetic appearance of products when transporting them to distant markets.

Speaking about the geography of exports, the Minister of Foreign Trade stated that in 2017 it was expanded by 17 new countries. In general, domestic exporters supplied fruit and vegetable products to the markets of 57 countries around the world. For the first time, canned capers were delivered to Spain and Italy, to Lebanon - walnuts, to Vietnam - dried grapes, to Belgium - dried vegetables, to Switzerland - fresh grapes and melons, to Holland - dried apricots.

"It is worth noting that as a result of implemented measures to support dehkan farms and exporters, as well as due to special taste qualities of the goods, our republic maintains leading positions in the world for the export of many kinds of fruits and vegetables. Uzbekistan ranks second in terms of apricot exports, third place in the export of persimmons and dried grapes, dried apricots - fourth place, cherries and legumes (mash) - the fifth place, plums - seventh place, cabbages - eighth place,” Jamshid Khodjaev said.