DUSHANBE, 18.04.2023 (NIAT Khovar) – The EU Integrated Rural Development Project/ TRIGGER supported representatives of five lead Tajik dried fruit and nut processing companies in visiting the biggest food and drink event — International Food and Drink Event (IFE) held on 20-22 March 2023 in London, UK.

The food industry is one of the largest contributors to gross industrial output in Tajikistan including the processing of local harvested fruit, nut and other agricultural products. Agricultural processing in Tajikistan is especially important as it provides sustainable economic growth, poverty reduction and food security and therefore processing companies should be able to respond the world market opportunities.

The Project supported seven representatives of the Tajik lead dried fruit food processing companies: Barakat Isfara LLC, ORO Isfara LLC, Fruit Valley LLC, Subhi Vatan LLC, and Barakat Family LLC in participation at the IFE. The main purpose of the visit was to explore export opportunities for natural products made by the dried fruit and nut processing companies –members of International Association of Producers and Exporters of Agriproducts of Tajikistan (IAPEAT).

The participation at the 3-day fair provided the participants with an opportunity to deepen their understanding in new trends and innovations in the food industry and packaging technology. In addition, IAPEAT members got closer familiarization with the updates on current developments and innovative approaches in the sector and explored in detail united pavilions of international countries, which would help in developing the united booth design and successful participation in other international trade fairs planned in 2023-2024.

Within three days IFE united more than 25,000 key industry professionals, who not only got acquainted with the presented food, beverages, technological solutions and equipment, but also, exchanged knowledge on the trends affecting the food and drink sector and networked face-to-face with suppliers. Attendees were able to not only touch but simultaneously experience the latest innovative products from around the world, listen to and learn from the event’s incredible line-up of speakers and meet industry peers.

The Project will continue improving partners’ capacity to identify and respond to the world market opportunities by increasing their marketing, sales, and export competencies.

The Integrated Rural Development Project (IRDP)/ Towards Rural Inclusive Growth and Economic Resilience (TRIGGER) is a joint project of the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to boost the added value of agricultural production in Tajikistan by improving water security and sustainability, enhancing the productivity of selected value chains, supporting market development, export readiness, enterprise promotion and economic policy advice. For further details, please contact: Sharofat Ashurova at sharofat.ashurova@giz.de, telephone number +992 987270046.