USAID’s Regional Economic Cooperation Project (REC) in partnership with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) along with support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan and the Council of Farmers of Uzbekistan conducted an international conference “Development of Production and Export of Horticultural Products of Uzbekistan”. On August 24 and 25, more than 120 participants representing Uzbek governmental institutions, agricultural firms and farmers, private businesses and international organizations, and buyers from Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan participated at the event.
The main objective of the conference was to improve value chains in horticulture between Uzbekistan and its markets, such as European Union and Central Asia. Discussions focused on improving value chain processes that both farmers and industry perform in order to bring horticulture products to market. The conference covered perspectives and opportunities on organic farming, public-private-partnership in agriculture sector, certification, agro-processing, transport, and logistics related to exporting. In addition, the event featured business-to-business meetings of Uzbek exporters of horticultural products with buyers from Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia.
USAID REC activities continue to contribute to the increase in Uzbekistan horticultural exports. Thus far in 2015, with support of USAID funded events in Fergana and Samarkand, more than $300 million in letters of intent for horticultural produce were secured over the past six months between Uzbekistan and potential export countries.
