Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
Trend:
Neighboring Azerbaijan can provide a significant part of the missing volumes of food in terms of the embargo on food from Europe, Russia's State Duma member Dmitry Savelyev said, Rosbalt reported March 2.
The experts said that the agricultural products from Azerbaijan were always in demand on the markets of neighboring countries. The growth rate of agriculture in Azerbaijan has reached 48.9 percent for the last ten years. This is significantly higher than the world average.
The current year has been declared the "Year of Agriculture" in Azerbaijan. This shows the special attention paid by the country to the agricultural sector. Around 37 percent of the able-bodied population has been employed there.
The experts said that more than 60 percent of concessional loans, issued in 2014 by the National Entrepreneurship Support Fund, were directed for the production and processing of agricultural products.
The development of non-oil sector of Azerbaijan's economy, which is based on agriculture, is a priority for the country in terms of the world oil price decrease, the experts said.
The benefits for Azerbaijan are obvious, namely, a significant source of budget revenues, weak dependence on the oil market fluctuations and the possibility of increasing the country's export potential.
Russia is also interested in Azerbaijani fruits and vegetables. Russia banned the supply of products from Europe.
Edited by CN