On March 18, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on the measures to increase investment and exports in the agricultural and food industries. It was noted that vegetable and fruit exports of the Republic reached $2 billion in 2023, the press office of the President of the Republic reported.
The President noted that over 23 million tons of vegetables and fruits were harvested in the country last year. This was enough for exports to reach $5 billion. However, this never happened. Mirziyoyev emphasised that the problem lies in the ineffective work of the officials in charge of the agricultural sector, as well as the inability to solve the problems facing exporters.
Each year 700 billion soums are earmarked to support agricultural exports and about a trillion soums to increase agricultural production, the President said. However, the expected results were not achieved. Mirziyoyev highlighted the need to create conditions conducive to boosting agricultural and food exports in 2024.
This year it is planned to increase production to about 100 trillion soums and exports to about $1 billion and launch 528 projects worth $833 million under the regional programmes. Furthermore, it is planned to allocate $310 million to the banks to finance agricultural projects in Uzbekistan. Following the meeting, the authorities decided to set up a commission on fruit, vegetable and food exports, headed by the Prime Minister.
