Mammad Abbasbayli: 'We should focus on food security of Azerbaijan'

Azerbaijan is among the countries that do not have ample opportunities to provide themselves with production fully, Mammad Abbasbayli, head of the Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Control State Service under the Economy Ministry of Azerbaijan, told Report on the sidelines of the XII International Grain Trade Conference in Baku.

"For this reason, one of the important steps to be taken by the state is to identify more competitive areas and focus mainly on those areas.

We live in a very difficult time. In our times, there are many climatic and geopolitical challenges. We have reached such a crossroads that we have to decide whether we will move in the direction of globalization or individualization. Each of us understands that in such a situation, we should focus on the food security of our countries," Mammad Abbasbayli said.

According to Abbasbayli, it is very difficult for Azerbaijan to compete with Russia, Ukraine, Romania, France, Canada and other countries, which are world leaders in grain production.

"The correct policy for our state at the moment is to determine the correct ratio between the import and export of this product. Recently, serious work has been done in this direction. Large production of both technical and food grains in our country has been ensured. However, this does not fully satisfy the country's need for grain. To achieve the goal, we also work very productively with local entrepreneurs. We support them in every way to ensure the food security of the country," he added.

He also noted that Azerbaijan mainly imports grain from Russia and partly from Kazakhstan, and recently, Kazakhstan's grain has increased its share in the domestic market.

In the end, Mammad Abbasbayli, touching on the goals of the conference, said that all the parties of the process - state structures, entrepreneurs, producers, importers, and exporters came together and discussed the current problems, and in this regard, the event is very important.