Private investments worth $588m allocated for agricultural parks

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov has said that about AZN 1 billion ($588M) of private investment has been allocated for Azerbaijan’s agricultural parks.

He made the remarks at the event on the role of agricultural parks in the development of agriculture organized by the Economy and Agriculture Ministries on September 30.

He noted that the work is underway to create 51 agricultural parks with a total cost of AZN 2.1 billion ($1.2bn) on the territory with a total area of 240,000 hectares in 32 regions of Azerbaijan.

Jabbarov added that 43 agricultural parks had already begun to function. He added that the state provides necessary support to create agricultural parks and supply them with the necessary infrastructure.

“The Entrepreneurship Development Fund under the Economy Ministry provided soft loans for the creation of 23 agricultural parks for AZN 173 million ($102M),” the minister added.

The minister also stated that to date, about 5,000 people are provided with permanent jobs in agricultural parks and more than 4,500 with seasonal jobs. In addition, Jabbarov noted that in the future, 4,300 more jobs will be created in the agricultural parks.

“Agricultural parks are an innovative and affordable mechanism for the effective use of new production and processing areas, increasing crop yields and the introduction of modern irrigation systems,” the minister added.

The event was attended by the economy minister, agriculture minister, the chairman of the Board of Land Reclamation and Water Management and the heads of relevant government agencies and leading companies of the agricultural sector.