The President, by his October 23 decree, approved the Uzbekistan’s Agriculture Development Strategy for 2020–2030.
The strategy has defined the priority areas for implementation, in particular, the development and implementation of the national policies on food security, including ensuring food safety and improving diets, producing food items in the required quantity.
To create a favorable agribusiness climate and value chain, the Strategy envisage the introduction of market principles for purchase and sale of agricultural products, development of a quality control infrastructure, export promotion, and the production of competitive agricultural products with high added value.
According to the Strategy, the role of the state will gradually decrease in the agricultural sector. At the same time, it is planned to increase the investment attractiveness of the industry with an increase the flow of private capital to modernize, diversify and support the stable growth of the agri-food sector.
The system of rational use of natural resources and environmental protection will be improved, and rural development programs will be implemented. The document focuses on the R&D, education, information and advisory services for agriculture.
The Strategy also provides for increased efficiency and phased redistribution of government spending, with sectoral programs to be developed aimed at increasing labor productivity in farms, improving product quality and creating high added value.
It is planned to create a transparent system of sector statistics, providing for the implementation of reliable methods for collecting, analyzing and disseminating statistical data using digital technologies.
The decree approved the composition of the coordination council for the implementation of the strategy, the Ministry of Agriculture assigned as the working body, and the Prime Minister in charge.
In addition, in a month’s time, permanent working groups will be formed for each main area of the strategy, including, among others, foreign experts.
Annually, before December 1, a draft presidential decree will be submitted to the Presidential Administration for approval with a program of measures to implement the strategy for the next year;
By decree, the Agency for the Implementation of Agriculture and Food Supply Projects set up in 2018, has been handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture with the preservation of existing investment projects, project implementation groups, as well as rights, obligations and agreements.