Trade missions

December 5-8, 2022 – The U.S. Agency for International Development Mission in Azerbaijan and the United States-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce jointly organized a first-of-its-kind agricultural trade mission to Wenatchee, Washington. Specializing in world-class tree fruit production, Wenatchee is considered the Apple Capital of the World due to its ideal climate for apple growing. The trade mission aimed to expose the visiting Azerbaijani delegation to the facilities, practices, and network of the orchard industry in the area.

The delegation of 19 Azerbaijani agricultural business leaders, growers, and packers visited Wenatchee from December 5^th through the 8^th. During the three-day program, the mission attended the North-West Horticultural Exposition and visited farms, food processing operations, and education and research institutions, where they participated in seminars on organic farming practices. The full itinerary of the mission is available here.

Benefits

“We discovered a lot of innovations at the exhibition. The Azerbaijani producers have found potential customers for their products and held initial discussions. We have started dialogues with several companies here, and we hope that our visit will be of great importance for the development of the agricultural sector in Azerbaijan.” – reflected Etibar Aghalar, Director-General of the Expert Agro Services, LLC.

Another member of the delegation Ms. Gulpari Bayramova, founder and director of AgroMix LLC, informed the USACC that she plans to bring the new knowledge she acquired from the mission to Azerbaijan and use them for the betterment of her business.

The Azerbaijan Agricultural Trade Mission was a three-day program aiming to educate Azerbaijani orchard growers on the best American tree-fruit production practices and stimulate trade in agricultural products, equipment, and inputs between the United States and Azerbaijan.

Background: The USACC and USAID/Azerbaijan have been partnering to promote bilateral economic relationships between Azerbaijan and individual U.S. states since 2019. In April and November 2019, USACC and USAID co-organized the inaugural Illinois-Azerbaijan Agriculture Forum in Chicago and the Oklahoma-Azerbaijan Agriculture Forum in Oklahoma City. These two events brought together agribusinesses from each state. These settings provided participating businesses with direct access to major stakeholders in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Azerbaijan. Both trade missions generated over $1.2M in agricultural trade between Azerbaijan and the United States.