BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 23
By Eldar Janashvili - Trend:
Azerbaijan is able to provide safe grain logistics on the routes passing through the country, Deputy Economy Minister Rufat Mammadov said at the Global Grain Outlook, the 11th International Grain Trading Conference, held in Baku, Trend reports Oct. 23.
Mammadov said that the grain market is a strategically important sector of the world economy, and the Azerbaijani government is constantly making efforts to improve grain production processes, optimize infrastructure, support the agricultural industry, provide farmers with subsidies for the purchase of agricultural equipment, fertilizers etc.
The deputy minister noted the work of the Entrepreneurship Development Fund, and said that benefits worth more than $70 million were provided to the agricultural sector, and agricultural parks and elevators for grain storage are being created in Azerbaijan. In particular, loans were provided for the creation of 30 such elevators, Mammadov added.
Referring to Azerbaijan’s State Statistics Committee, Mammadov said that at the end of 2018, grain production in the country amounted to 3.3 million tons, providing growth of 13 percent, including a wheat crop of 2 million tons with an increase of 12 percent. In 2019, according to the results of three quarters, grain harvest reached 3.4 million tons and wheat harvest amounted to 2.2 million tons, the deputy minister noted.
Mammadov added that Azerbaijan has gained great experience in organizing partnership between the country’s private and public sectors. This experience contributes to ensuring food security of the country; in particular, the State Grain Fund was created to form state reserves and prevent fluctuations in market prices, the deputy minister said.
The 11th Global Grain Outlook International Grain Trading Conference, which is being held in Baku, is organized by the Russian Grain Union, the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), the Russian Export Center and the Federation of Iranian Food Industries Associations.
Azerbaijan’s election as a venue for the conference isn’t accidental, and is associated with the unique geographical position of the country at the junction of Europe and Asia and at the intersection of the most important transit routes.
This allows considering Azerbaijan as a link between the grain markets of the Black Sea region, Central Asia and the Middle East, as well as the formation of Azerbaijan’s positive image and its positioning as the “Grain Gate” between the Islamic world and the countries of the Black Sea region.