Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

Uzbekistan intends to significantly expand the geography of exports of fruit and vegetable products in the coming year.

This was stated by the chairman of the company Uzbekozikovkatholding, Tohirjon Zhalilov, in an interview with the Russian media.

During 2017, the company reached agreements with partners from Russia, China, Turkey, Latvia, South Korea and Pakistan.

Due to this, it was possible to expand the spheres of cooperation, enter new markets, and also arrange regular export of products to these countries.

Among the individual events that affected the increase in partners, the head of the holding highlighted the II International fruit and vegetable fair, where more than 350 foreign companies from 30 countries of the world were present. During the fair, more than 200 contracts worth $1.5 billion were signed.

The company delivered more than 162,000 tons of fruit and vegetable products only to Russia thus showing a 32 percent increase compared to 2016. The total amount of deliveries was $111 million, which is 30 percent higher than last year's figure.

In the outgoing year, contracts were also concluded with several large retail chains in Russia.

“To date, fruit and vegetable products from Uzbekistan are supplied to Russia in three ways: by rail, by road and by air. Moreover, we started to use air transport only from this year. This method of delivery significantly increased the speed of delivery and allowed the products to keep their freshness longer,” Zhalilov noted.

Creation of a network of logistics centers for further export, where the preparation, labeling and packaging of products will be carried out, introduction of advanced technologies in production and processing as well as creation of a unified system for exporters of agricultural products are among main plans for 2018.

Export contracts in 2017 were signed not only at exhibitions, but also during interstate and inter-departmental visits. In particular, agreements on the supply of fruit and vegetable products for 2018 and 2019 have been signed with South Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Indonesia, Germany and other countries.

The company plans to expand the geography of exports to the countries of Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, as well as North and Latin America.

In addition to export operations, Uzbekozikovkatholding also carries out import activities. Thus, after a 26-year break, Uzbekistan for the first time started to purchase sugar from the largest Russian producers this year.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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