Uzbekistan and FAO sign four agreements for US$1.596m

A delegation from Tashkent visited the FAO Subregional Office for Central Asia this week in Turkey in mid-March 2015 and signed project agreements. The delegation was led by Yashin Khidirov, Deputy Minister with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.

Uzbekistan and the FAO signed an agreement on implementation of the regional project on fighting with locust with the budget of US$600,000.

The sides also inked an agreement on improving national phytosanitary control services in Central Asia with the budget of US$425,000.

The FAO and Uzbekistan agreed to implement the project on developing measures on adaptation of aquaculture and culture-based fisheries to climate change with the budget of US$371,000 and the project on rational use of land resources with the budget of US$200,000.

The sides also agreed that the FAO will speed up consideration of the project on developing a programme on attracting foreign investments into agriculture of Uzbekistan. The budget of the project is US$160,000.

Uzbekistan and FAO will also develop two projects within the programme of cooperation for 2014-2017.

The sides developed a project “Development of organic agriculture of Uzbekistan” with the budget of US$400,000 and a project “Creation of system of assessment, monitoring and inventory of forest resources of Uzbekistan” with the budget of US$377,000.

Since 2001, FAO cooperation with Uzbekistan has been growing, with technical assistance to further develop the agricultural sector, sustainable management of natural resources and increased resilience of rural populations to climate change.

The Organization’s presence in Uzbekistan was reinforced in June 2014 with the host country agreement signed between FAO and Government of Uzbekistan and inauguration of an FAO country office in Tashkent by Uzbekistan Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev and FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.