Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A meeting of the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan Aziz Voitov with the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerbol Karashukeev took place via videoconference.

Topical issues of trade, economic and investment cooperation, as well as scientific and institutional cooperation in agriculture between the two countries were discussed on the agenda.

Particular attention was paid to the issue of projects that are being implemented on the territory of Uzbekistan. So, today 3 projects are being implemented with the attraction of Kazakh capital in the amount of US$101.3 million. Among them are the creation of refrigeration facilities worth US$40 million in Namangan region; launch of an agrocluster for processing fruits and vegetables worth US$43.8 million in Namangan region.

In matters of investment cooperation, they discussed projects for the joint cultivation of crops in Kazakhstan for further export to Uzbekistan, the conclusion of forward contracts for the sale of early varieties of vegetables, herbs and potatoes to the Republic of Kazakhstan, the creation of a grain processing cluster for the deep processing of Kazakh grain.

In 2021, the trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan reached US$1.2 billion, including export - US$223.1 million, import - US$966.2 million.

In January-September 2022, the volume of mutual trade amounted to US$1.3 billion: exports - US$185.5 million, imports - US$1.1 billion.

Uzbekistan’s main export items were vegetables (US$64.3 million), fruits (US$37.7 million), grapes (US$25.7 million), dried vegetables (US$12.1 million) ), gourds (US$11.0 million), eggs (US$7.3 million), legumes (US$6.9 million), confectionery (US$5.4 million), nuts (3 US$.7 million), processed foods (US$3.7 million).

Uzbekistan’s main import items were grain products (US$546 million), fat products (US$144.5 million), animal feed (US$129.8 million), foodstuffs (US$112.4 million) ), meat (US$74.1 million), seeds (US$57.3 million), confectionery (US$11.8 million), dairy products (US$4.4 million), tobacco products (US$4.2 million).