President Jeenbekov receives Minister of Agriculture, Food Industry and Land Reclamation

Bishkek, June 26, 2019. /Kabar/. President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sooronbay Jeenbekov received Erkinbek Choduyev, the Minister of Agriculture, Food Industry and Land Reclamation.
The press service of the President reported that the sides discussed the current state and priority plans for further development of the country’s agrarian sector, and preliminary information on the results of the first half of the current year was presented.
Jeenbekov stressed that agriculture is a priority sector in the structure of the real economy of the country. The development of the agricultural sector is directly related to the development of the regions and the national economy as a whole.
"There is need to pay special attention to the development of local agriculture. Increasing exports of agricultural products should become the main goal. The agricultural sector is allocated sufficient funds from the national budget, the Kyrgyz-Russian Development Fund and other financial institutions of the country, so it is necessary to strengthen control over their rational use," Jeenbekov said.
President Jeenbekov also noted the importance of improving the legislative framework, attracting additional investments and applying scientific methods in the development of agriculture.
He recommended to strengthen the work on increasing the export of domestic agricultural products to neighboring and far-abroad countries, including the use of export potential within the Eurasian Economic Union and the status of VSP+, to work with processing companies to increase exports of meat and dairy products, fruits and vegetables, wool and other agricultural products to foreign markets, including China.
The Kyrgyz leader noted the need for timely supply of irrigation water to the regions and intensification of work on the construction of irrigation infrastructure. He also drew attention to the digitalization of processes in agriculture, optimization of the structure of the ministry to be "flexible" and meet modern requirements.
Agricultural Minister Erkinbek Choduyev said that three main priorities in the ministry’s activity have been defined. The first is support for exports and promotion of domestic agricultural products in foreign markets.
"We have already concluded a memorandum with 18 associations, which will allow us to work directly with about 400 thousand farmers. For this purpose the ministry has created a new structural subdivision - the department for export ," Choduyev said.
The second is the development of the food and processing industries. Erkinbek Choduyev showed the President a map indicating where and which agricultural enterprises should be put into operation in the regions as a matter of priority. In this direction, cooperation will be with the Kyrgyz-Russian Development Fund, Aiyl Bank, RSK Bank and Guarantee Fund.
The third that the new Digital Agriculture state enterprise, aimed at digitalization of agricultural processes will be created on the basis of the Village Information state enterprise.
Minister Choduyev noted that the emphasis will be placed on the expansion of the network of cooperative farms, the development of seed enterprises, livestock breeding and organic agriculture, which should also serve as a comprehensive development of the agricultural sector.