Azerbaijani Minister of Agriculture meets Vice-President of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and former Mayor of Bordeaux

In October 2019, on the sidelines of his trip to France, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Agriculture, Inam Karimov, met with the former mayor of the city of Bordeaux, Nicolas Florian, and the vice-president of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, Jean-Pierre Raynaud. During the meetings, Minister Inam Karimov discussed the agricultural reforms underway in his country, noting that President Ilham Aliyev was paying particular attention to the development of the non-hydrocarbon sector, agriculture, and in particular to ensuring food security. He also referred to the existing cooperation between the two countries in this field.

Having expressed his country’s interest in strengthening agricultural cooperation with France, the Minister invited Nicolas Florian to visit Azerbaijan. Nicolas Florian highly appreciated the Bordeaux-Baku cooperation and expressed his interest in deepening it. The former mayor of Bordeaux said that he would visit Azerbaijan after the next municipal elections.

Vice-President Jean-Pierre Raynaud then gave detailed information on the region’s agriculture. In order to meet the delegation’s expectations in terms of winegrowing, research and training, the Interco Nouvelle-Aquitaine Agency proposed a programme of visits and technical presentations on 04 October 2020: visits to the Institut Supérieur de la Vigne et du Vin in Villenave d’Ornon and Château Luchey Halde (Bordeaux Sciences Agro) in Mérignac: the Azeri delegation was welcomed by Guilherme MARTINS, Doctoral Researcher and Lecturer at Bordeaux Sciences Agro.

AREAS OF COLLABORATION

It was pointed out that the city of Baku has been twinned with Bordeaux since 1979 and that cooperation relations should be expanded to encourage the inhabitants of both cities to get to know each other and their cultures better. Minister Inam Karimov invited French companies to participate in the CaspianAgro, an international agricultural trade show organised every year in Azerbaijan. The government has a strong desire to invest in the agricultural sector: proposal by the International Economic Cooperation Agency INTERCO Nouvelle-Aquitaine to host an Azeri delegation during the Aquitanima International Tours 2020.

Viticulture: Proposed visit of a French delegation during the Azerbaijan Grape and Wine Festival. Last edition: 30-31 August 2019, in the village of Meysari of the Chamakhy region. Organised by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Executive Power of the Chamakhy region, the Association “Regional Development”, the National Tourism Agency and the National Carpet Museum, in collaboration with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the festival will be held in the wine and grape complex of the “Shirvan Wines” company.  The aim of the project is to promote the production of local grapes and wine, increase the export potential of wines, and convey the history of wine production in Azerbaijan to a wide audience. Possibility of exchanges between students and researchers of the ISVV Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences and the Azerbaijan Wine University. Interest: developing indigenous grape varieties in Azerbaijan

Transfer of innovative technologies: Government subsidy of 40% paid for import of agricultural machinery to Azerbaijan. Opportunities for our companies from Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region to cooperate in various fields. (Agricultural and wine-making machinery, etc.)