Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski met with Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khojaev during his two-day visit to Tashkent.

Wojciechowski is participating in the international forum “Landlocked Developing Countries: Food Security and Sustainable Development Goals,” which is being held in the capital of Uzbekistan.

During the meeting, the current state and future directions of agricultural cooperation between Uzbekistan and the European Union were discussed.

Janusz Wojciechowski highlighted the consistent reforms in Uzbekistan’s agriculture in recent years and expressed the European Union’s interest in further developing cooperation with Uzbekistan.

Jamshid Khojaev proposed exploring the rich experience of EU countries in developing Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) and expressed readiness to participate in the “Smart AKIS” program, established under the EIP-AGRI initiative. He also suggested exchanging experiences between Uzbek agricultural researchers and scientific and educational centers in Europe.

The meeting acknowledged Uzbekistan’s significant achievements in the agricultural sector, including the abandonment of state orders for cotton and grain cultivation, the implementation of water-saving technologies on one million hectares, the development of a food security and healthy nutrition strategy, and the adoption of a National Program for Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change. Plans for future joint actions in this area were also discussed.

In conclusion, the parties discussed the importance of European experience for Uzbekistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization and outlined plans for collaborative work in this direction over the next four years.