USAID, AZPROMO and the United States-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce Sign Partnership Agreement

BAKU - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), and the United States-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC) signed a memorandum of understanding today establishing a partnership to support agricultural export and investment. The partnership will facilitate Azerbaijani small and medium-sized agribusinesses to access foreign markets. 

USAID, AZPROMO and USACC will partner to help diversify the non-oil, rural economy in Azerbaijan by increasing the capacity, productivity, improved technology, and competitiveness of horticultural production, particularly of dried fruits, persimmons, and strawberries. Through the Agricultural Export and Investment Support Initiative, the partners will conduct export market research, support facility and process improvements, and facilitate compliance by Azerbaijani agribusinesses with international standards in order to increase exports. The initiative will also promote U.S.-Azerbaijani agribusiness linkages by supporting Azerbaijani agribusiness participation in exhibitions and trade missions abroad and organize buyers’ missions to Azerbaijan, bringing buyers and sellers together.

As a result, growers, processors, and exporters of horticultural crops in Azerbaijan will increase their yields and quality, add more value to their produce, and diversify their sales markets, leading to broad-based economic growth and resiliency. 

USAID Mission Director for Azerbaijan Jaidev Singh said, “I am confident that this effort will not only catalyze a major step forward and entry into new export market for the country’s dried fruit, persimmon, and strawberry growers, processors, and traders, but will also showcase a model for collaboration between government and the private sector and between our two countries that can be utilized to spur further development in other Azerbaijani sectors as well.”

The Head of AZPROMO Yusif Abdullayev provided information on the reforms to further improve business and investment environment in Azerbaijan and discussed steps taken by AZPROMO to attract foreign investors. 

“Today the parties are embarking on a new level of partnership which will open new avenues for further promotion of agriculture sector of Azerbaijan and attracting investments to Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector”, said Reza Vaziri, USACC Board Chairman.