Seminar on rural development and establishment of national agrotourism system in Azerbaijan was held

A seminar on "Rural development in Azerbaijan and creation of a national agrotourism system" was held today in Baku within the twinning project "Increasing the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of state aid to agriculture". The aim of the seminar is to hold a joint exchange of views on the development potential of agroturism in the country and the work to be implemented in this direction in the future.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov said that rural tourism is considered one of the areas with great potential for the development of the non-oil sector in Azerbaijan. The Minister noted that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev carried out serious reforms in the development of the non-oil sector. As a result of these reforms, the agrarian sector is developing dynamically.

The development of agriculture contributes to the development of not only science, education, employment, innovation, trade, but also tourism. Within the framework of the agrotourism project “from City to Village” implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture for several years, support was provided for the creation of dozens of agroecotourism facilities in the regions. Agrotourism facilities with modern requirements operate in Gakh, Shaki, Ismayilli, Balakan, Lankaran and other regions. It was noted that the further development of agrotourism will have a positive impact on the increase in the level of employment in the regions and the increase in the income of farmers.

Agrotourism is also an area that does not require substantial investment for farmers, allowing them to form a new source of income. For this reason, exemplary farms operating in Azerbaijan also contribute to the revival of agrotourism by offering tourism.

Speaking at the event, the head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan Peter Michalko called agriculture one of the main areas of development of the economy of Azerbaijan. He stressed that the European Union will support the development of agrotourism in Azerbaijan. Peter Michalko expressed confidence that the development of this sphere of tourism will lead to diversification of income of farms and improvement of agrotourism services.

Orkhan Mammadov, chairman of the Board of small and Medium Business Development Agency under the Ministry of Economy, said that agrotourism in our country has great potential. A great return to Karabakh, the implementation of "Smart village" projects and the concept of “Smart agriculture” will give an additional impetus to the development of this sector in the near future. The tourism sector has been identified as one of the priority areas of economic policy in terms of accelerating economic growth in the post-pandemic period. SME takes measures to develop micro, small and medium-sized businesses in the tourism sector and increase their potential.

The head of the apparatus of the State Tourism Agency Kenan Gasimov emphasized that great work is being done to develop tourism in our country. In his speech, he noted that the rural development and agrotourism is currently one of the priorities.

Seymur Movlayev, Head of Agrarian credit and Development Agency, said that the study of world experience in this area is of great importance for the development of agro-tourism. There are different models of agrotourism in the world.

In the panels to be organized within the framework of the Seminar, international experts will give detailed information to the participants about agrotourism models applied in the European Union.

The seminar continued its work through panel sessions.