Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 10
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
Azerbaijan intends to increase the export of persimmons to Arab countries in 2018, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Association of Persimmon Producers and Exporters Gadir Yusifov told Trend Jan. 10.
Yusifov added that Azerbaijan started to supply persimmons to Arab countries in 2017, but the volume of exported products was insignificant.
"Russia, Ukraine and Belarus mainly import persimmons from Azerbaijan, but we intend to supply persimmons to other countries in 2018,” he said. “We started to export persimmons to Arab countries in 2017. Expansion of export of persimmons to Arab countries will be our main task in 2018."
"The association mainly focused on establishment of production and improvement of competitiveness of products in 2017,” he said. “A lot of work was carried out to review the situation in the markets of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. We are constantly monitoring prices in these markets."
Yusifov said over 200,000 tons of persimmons were harvested in Azerbaijan in 2017, of which about 130,000 tons were exported.
"Presently, about 50,000 tons of persimmons are stored in warehouses,” he said. “We are waiting for reasonable prices in markets to sell the rest of the products. I would like to stress that both the collection and export of persimmons increased in 2017."
The Azerbaijan Association of Persimmon Producers and Exporters was established in August 2017 on the initiative of entrepreneurs and with the support of the country’s Ministry of Economy.
The main objectives of the association are to increase the production of competitive and export-oriented products, as well as expand the export of persimmons.
Azerbaijan exported persimmons worth $70 million in January-November 2017, according to the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications.