Development of "Made in Azerbaijan" to help grow agriculture

By  Trend

Development of the Made in Azerbaijan brand will help to ensure the growth of agriculture by three percent in 2017 and by four percent in 2018 in Azerbaijan, says the report, titled “Asian Development Outlook 2017: Transcending the middle-income challenge” of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Meanwhile, agriculture grew by 2.6 percent, livestock – by 2.8 percent and key crops – by 2.5 percent in 2016, says the report.

Currently, agriculture employs 36.3 percent of workers to produce only 6.2 percent of GDP, while industry employs only 6.9 percent of workers to produce 47 percent of GDP, according to ADB experts.

The report also says that to support rural employment, a new project was launched to help family firms produce goods and deliver them to markets.

“In addition, a social housing program was launched with the goal of creating 10,000 jobs by 2020. To strengthen agriculture and agroprocessing, farmers were given 179,000 hectares of arable land for additional cotton, hazelnut, and tea production, which should provide more rural jobs and limit migration to urban areas,” says the report.

ADB, based in Manila, was established in 1966 and is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration.

Azerbaijan became the ADB member on Dec. 22, 1999.