As part of his visit to the state of Texas, Uzbek Ambassador Javlon Vakhabov held talks with the Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller on Thursday.
During the meeting, the sides discussed prospects for attracting large companies from Texas to the process of improving the domestic agricultural industry, establishing direct partnerships between agricultural departments and research institutions, as well as organizing a Texas state trade mission to Uzbekistan were discussed.
Sid Miller welcomed the economic reforms being taken in Uzbekistan, which, as the minister emphasized, "are fundamental in ensuring the sustainable and long-term prosperity of the country." Texas is a unique example, he says, where agriculture has played a key role in the state's economy for many years and has become a traditional activity for many of its residents. He noted that each of the more than 4,700 farms and ranches in Texas has been farmed continuously by the same family for 100 years or more.
Sid Miller expressed his readiness to assist in the establishment and development of partnership ties between the parties in the introduction of advanced technologies in the agricultural sector, the use of the academic potential of Texas universities in increasing the productivity of crops in the difficult climatic conditions of Uzbekistan. In particular, he proposed to establish inter-academic cooperation between specialized Uzbek universities and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources of Texas Tech University, which is the leading educational institution in the field of cotton cultivation.
The Commissioner also suggested considering the possibility of establishing a direct dialogue between the relevant structures of Uzbekistan and the Plains Cotton Growers Association of Texas Cotton Growers. It is noted that this union was founded in 1956 and unites more than 80% of all cotton producers in the state, which account for the cultivation of 30% of the total cotton in the United States and 4% in the world.
Following the talks, an agreement was reached on organizing a visit to Uzbekistan by a Texas delegation led by Sid Miller and a trade mission in March 2023. He also supported the proposal to prepare a special Texas pavilion as part of the 22nd International Exhibition of Food, Ingredients and Food Technologies UzFood2023, which will be held March 28-30, 2023 in Tashkent.
According to the Uzbek embassy, Texas is the second largest US state in terms of population (30 million people), territory (695.6 square kilometers) and GDP ($2 trillion). With a growing industrial base, the state leads the way in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, aerospace, and biomedical sciences. The total economic value of the state's agricultural industry is estimated at $100 billion. If Texas were a separate country, then this state would become the ninth economy in the world.
