BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 25. The 4th Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was held in Cholpon-Ata city, Kyrgyzstan, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Agriculture told Trend.
A delegation led by the Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov participated in the meeting.
The meeting, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry Bakyt Torobaev and OTS Secretary General Kubanychbek Omuraliyev, was attended by ministers and deputy ministers of agriculture of the member states of the organization and those invited as observers.
Opening the event with an introductory speech, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry Bakyt Torobaev emphasized that there is great potential for increasing trade turnover in the agricultural sector between OTS countries.
Stressing that global climate change poses serious risks to agrarian agri-food systems and the process of ensuring food security, Mammadov touched upon the importance of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) held in Baku last November.
He said that Azerbaijan successfully organized this international event, and a number of important international initiatives were adopted, including the COP29 Declaration on Climate Action.
The minister expressed his gratitude to the OTS countries for their high-level representation at COP29.
Calling effective agricultural diplomacy an important tool for overcoming the numerous challenges and threats facing the global agri-food system, Mammadov added that trade relations between OTS countries should be further strengthened and joint efforts should be increased to turn our countries into leading exporters of key agricultural products.
He emphasized that the modern transport infrastructure, rich energy resources, free economic zones and favorable investment climate of the OTS countries create significant advantages for the successful activity of business communities. This year, the Turkish Investment Fund is expected to officially begin its activities. Citing this, Mammadov pointed out that pilot projects aimed at joint production under the OTS brand should be implemented by actively using the fund's capabilities.
The ministerial meeting drew attention to the need for cooperation in the areas of digital transformation of agriculture, technology transfer in this field, and sharing of best practices in order to increase productivity and achieve sustainable development against the backdrop of modern challenges.
Based on the previously determined criteria, the city of Cholpon-Ata has been declared the agricultural capital of the OTS since September 2025. An agreement was reached to hold the next meeting of the OTS Ministers of Agriculture in Türkiye, and it was decided that the Working Group on Agriculture will prepare a special Action Plan for 2026.
The event culminated with the adoption of the Final Declaration of the 4th Meeting of the OTS Ministers of Agriculture. The document identified the main directions of future cooperation between the OTS member states as ensuring the sustainability of the agro-food system, expanding the application of innovations in the agricultural sector, increasing productivity, increasing trade turnover in agricultural and food products, promoting mutual investments, transferring modern technologies in the agricultural sector, exchanging best practices, efficient management of land and water resources, protecting biodiversity, promoting the agricultural insurance system, supporting the implementation of agricultural cooperation activities within the framework of the OTS, and other areas.
The Organization of Turkic States (OTS), previously known as the Turkic Council or the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, is an intergovernmental entity that includes all but one of the internationally recognized Turkic sovereign nations. The primary objective is to foster extensive collaboration among the Turkic nations. The General Secretariat of OTS is situated in Istanbul, Türkiye.
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