Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- During his speech at the 1st Summit of the Organization of Turkic States on 11 November 2022 in Samarkand, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev paid special attention to deepening comprehensive cooperation with the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) countries.

In particular, the Head of our country proposed:

1) to adopt a multilateral agreement within the framework of the OTS on the creation of an effective system of mutual food supplies;

2) establish a comprehensive partnership between the ATC and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

3) put the holding of the Turkic agricultural forum on a regular basis and, as part of the second event of this format, organize the International Smart Agriculture Exhibition.

These initiatives of the leader of our country are of particular relevance and timeliness for a number of reasons.

First, the rapid rise in food prices. An analysis of the trade turnover of the OTS countries shows that their structure retains a high degree of dependence on imported food. For example, Azerbaijan increased food imports by 19.9% in 2019 (up to US$1.6 billion).

A similar situation is observed in Kyrgyzstan - the share of food products and agricultural raw materials in the structure of the country’s imports increased from 7.6% in 2020 to 10.3% in 2020.

Thus, the adoption of a multilateral agreement within the framework of the Organization on the creation of effective mechanisms for the supply of consumer goods will make it possible to systematize work in this direction, based on the needs of domestic and world markets and the production capabilities of the OTS member countries.

Secondly, further deepening of cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

FAO is a specialized UN agency for the implementation of decisions made by the international community in the field of food and agriculture, as well as other sectors of the agro-industrial complex, including decisions on sustainable development, environmental protection, and the development of world trade.

From this point of view, deepening cooperation with this organization will allow the OTS member states to intensify work on the digitalization of agriculture and conduct joint research on agricultural food markets, climate change mitigation, and natural resource management.

Thus, the complex interaction of the Turkic countries with FAO will contribute to the accelerated introduction of innovations, modern knowledge and advanced technologies into national economies.

Thirdly, the lack of regional platforms for agricultural cooperation. In June 2022, the first Turkic agricultural forum was held in Tashkent. The Ministers of Agriculture of the member countries of the Organization took part in its work and discussed global trends and challenges in agriculture, the integration of the private sector into agricultural cooperation in the Turkic region, etc.

At the same time, a cooperation exchange was organized with the participation of business circles of the OTS states.

Given the positive experience, experts note the high demand for holding the Turkic Agro Forum and the International Smart Agriculture Exhibition on a systematic basis.

Summarizing, we can say that the development of multifaceted cooperation both within the framework of the ATC and with international organizations is becoming one of the priorities of the Organization in the medium term.

Zakir Abdullayev,

Department head

Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies

under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan