The Minister for Agriculture of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev met IAMO Director Prof. Thomas Glauben and his colleagues Dr. Ihtiyor Bobojonov, Dr. Lena Kuhn and Dr. Nodir Djanibekov for a discussion in the Uzbek Embassy in Berlin on 16 January. In the meeting, the Ministry of Agriculture showed great interest in IAMO's research on the digitalisation of agriculture and in the Uzbek-German Chair of International Agricultural Economics, which was established at the Tashkent State Agrarian University at the end of 2018. Another topic was the TIIAME-based Experimental Economics Laboratory, which is intended to contribute to a better understanding of farmers’ behavioral factors in the current discussions about policy design and intervention outcomes. Some concrete measures regarding current IAMO research projects (KlimALEZ, IPReS, SUSADICA) were also discussed, such as the use of a flying drone by IAMO scientists in Uzbekistan to generate relevant research data. The Minister also invited IAMO to take a more active role in analysing the impact of agricultural reforms. Minister Khodjaev offered his support in IAMO's scientific transfer, research and education activities implemented in Uzbekistan.
On 17 January, Prof. Glauben and Dr. Kuhn also met with the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Inam Karimov, at the Green Week. During the meeting it was agreed to intensify the cooperation especially on the topics innovation and digitalisation. The new Azerbaijani Agro Research Centre under the Ministry of Agriculture is to play a special role in advancing the cooperation. In this context the visit of an Azerbaijani delegation to IAMO is already planned for spring.
