Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 18
By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend:
The World Bank has been actively supporting the agriculture sector reform in Uzbekistan and assisting the Government with modernizing the giant agriculture sector, a spokesperson of the World Bank told Trend in an interview.
“World Bank has also been assisting Uzbekistan in diversifying agricultural production beyond cotton and wheat into higher value-added production and processing, including fruits and vegetables and livestock, which will lead to better-paid jobs in rural areas, food security, and exports,” the official said.
The spokesperson said that currently, three World Bank-financed projects totaling $1 billion (25 percent of the Bank’s investment portfolio in the country) are being implemented in Uzbekistan’s agriculture sector.
“They are helping farmers and agribusinesses receive more technical and financial support, expand access to domestic and global markets, and improve the productivity of the country’s horticulture and livestock sub-sectors,” the official noted.
The spokesperson added that the World Bank allocated a $150 million loan in 2014 and a $500 million loan in 2018 for Uzbekistan’s horticulture and a $150 million loan in 2017 for livestock sub-sectors.
“In March 2019, the World Bank allocated a $200-million loan to support the Government’s efforts on rural enterprise development in Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Valley,” World Bank’s spokesperson said.
The Bank-financed project will support the delivery of technical and financial services to local micro, small and medium enterprises in rural areas for strengthening linkages in supply chains and facilitating greater market access to urban areas across Uzbekistan and in other Central Asian states.
The official added that the project will target rural entrepreneurs in high potential sectors such as agriculture, food processing, handicraft, rural services, tourism, and small manufacturing.
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