Uzbekistan-Italy: areas of cooperation in the agricultural sector

He noted that today cooperation between our countries in the agrarian sector is developing at an active pace and he is sincerely glad to have the opportunity to discuss the development of this cooperation.

Further, Aziz Voitov outlined the areas of joint work in the areas of agricultural mechanization and the use of modern water saving systems.

The parties discussed the issue of establishing relations with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policy of Italy, on the eve of a high-level visit in early June of this year.

Further, the agenda was devoted to the upcoming TuttoFood 2023 exhibition, which will be held in Milan from 8 to 11 May 2023. It was noted that Uzbekistan is gradually becoming one of the major exporters of agricultural products and today supplies more than 80 types of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables to about 100 countries.

At the exhibition stand "Made in Uzbekistan" 10 entrepreneurs from our country will present their products.

“We also intend to take part in other exhibitions in Italy to establish direct relations between the entrepreneurs of our countries. In addition, we are ready to receive representatives of Italian business at exhibitions held in our country,” said Aziz Voitov.

The next issue on the agenda was devoted to building partnerships with leading Italian companies in the food sector, such as: Parmalat (dairy products, turnover $6.6 billion), Cremonini (meat and meat products $4.0 billion), Ferrero (confectionery products $12 billion) , Lavazza (coffee $1.1 billion), Barilla holding (pasta $3.9 billion), Iritec (water saving technologies).

The Uzbek side asked for assistance in organizing meetings with the mentioned companies.

In this direction, our country already has a successful example of cooperation in growing saffron in the Bakhmal district of the Jizzakh region with Opera SRL and BMB Trade Group.

Further, according to the plan, they discussed the development of viticulture and winemaking. Viticulture is the basis of agro-tourism - a new direction for Uzbekistan. In the near future, it is planned to bring this industry in our country to a new level.

Particular attention was paid to cooperation in the field of education. It was noted that in 2022 a memorandum was signed between the National Center for Knowledge and Innovation in Agriculture, the University of Milan and the Italian Center for Agriculture CREA. Within the framework of these agreements, Uzbek and Italian scientists began the implementation of scientific projects in the field of viticulture, plant protection, and horticulture. In this context, it is important to establish links with Italian universities in the fields of agriculture to improve the skills of the teaching staff of our universities.

Following the meeting, the parties agreed to develop a format for further interaction for the implementation of the planned projects.