Azerbaijan-Hungary Agricultural Business Forum was held in Baku

Azerbaijan-Hungary Agricultural Business Forum was held in Baku. The forum was attended by representatives of relevant agencies from both countries and heads of companies specializing in agriculture.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the business forum, Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov spoke about the reforms implemented in the direction of diversification of the economy in our country, noted that agriculture has an important role in the development of the non-oil sector, and brought to attention that the development of the agricultural sector is a priority in our country. Speaking about state support to the development of agriculture and reforms carried out in this direction, the Minister emphasized that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev paid special attention and care to all areas of the agricultural sector.

It was noted that the tax exemption of agricultural activities in Azerbaijan, the liberalization of the market for the sale of agricultural machinery and pedigree animals create broad investment opportunities for foreign companies, including Hungarian companies specializing in agricultural sector: “The high-level event held today indicates the development of general business interests and high-level relations between Azerbaijan and Hungary. The Forum creates important conditions for the business sector to share best practices in the field of agriculture and further develop the existing partnership. I do hope that representatives of companies specializing in the agricultural sector of both countries will take maximum advantage of the chances of holding bilateral meetings to further develop cooperation”.

Minister Inam Karimov reminded that Azerbaijan liberated its lands from occupation in 2020: “Our main goal for the coming years is the restoration and reconstruction of liberated territories, integration into value chains. These areas have great agricultural potential, and liberated lands have been declared Green Energy Zones. The development of villages and cities in these areas will be based on the concept of “Smart City” and “Smart Village”. With this in mind, Hungarian companies can share their best technology and experience with Azerbaijan”.

Speaking at the business forum, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy said that relations with Azerbaijan are at a high level and there is a great potential for the development of mutual cooperation. Noting that his country cooperates with Azerbaijan in many areas, the Minister noted that there are opportunities for further expansion of cooperation, especially in the field of agriculture: “Climate changes, including the pandemic over the past 2 years, have affected all sectors of the world economy. From this point of view, one of the major roles in the development of cooperation lies with business entities, and as a result, the cooperation of companies specializing in agriculture expands the possibilities of cooperation in the agricultural sector. Azerbaijan and Hungary should try to increase mutual trade turnover. The main responsibility in this area lies with large companies. I hope that as a result of the one-to-one meetings and exchange of views held within the framework of the business forum by businessmen from Hungary and Azerbaijan will have a positive impact on the further development of cooperation between the two countries".

Then presentations on the agricultural potential of Azerbaijan and Hungary were held at the business forum.

After the opening ceremony of the event, a meeting of delegations led by the Ministers of Agriculture of Azerbaijan and Hungary were held. The prospects for further development of cooperation between the two countries in the field of agriculture were discussed at the meeting. The parties highly appreciated the results of the first meeting of the Working Group on Azerbaijan-Hungary agriculture issues and reached a preliminary agreement on holding the next meeting in January.

The issues of cooperation between the two countries in agricultural education, agricultural research and technology exchange in the field of artificial insemination in livestock were also discussed.

The Forum continued its work in panel sessions.