The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), within the framework of its Agricultural Value Chain Project (AVC), organized a workshop for entrepreneurs engaged in refrigeration business, Eurasia Diary reports citing Trend News Agency.

The main topic of the workshop was the importance of the cold storage facilities in the export of Uzbekistan's horticultural products.

"Storing of one kilogram of cargo was estimated in 2011 at 100 soums (one cent) a day, and now the price remains the same. This can attract entrepreneurs to work in this area," said Muminjon Isomiddinov, AVC project specialist. "However, it is more profitable to implement a mechanism for cooling fruits and vegetables in Uzbekistan for a short period of time, with subsequent shipment for export. "

The government is allocating more and more land for growing fruit and vegetables, Isomiddinov said, and in a few years, much more products will be grown than the population can consume.

"If we don't fully establish a mechanism to cool the product and export it, the whole system could suffer," he said.

"Fruit production is a very important sector for Uzbekistan. This sphere has even become part of the country's culture. Every tourist coming to Uzbekistan wants to know how tasty the fruits and dishes of this country are. But the export orientation of cultivated fruits is quite another matter. Every market has its own laws," said Brian Kiger, AVC project manager.

Fruits from Uzbekistan can be purchased continuously by Kazakhstan and Russia, but in order to enter the international market, the product quality has to be improved, he added.

It was noted that since 2012, work has been underway to increase exports of fruit and vegetable products and to create an Association of Entrepreneurs working in the refrigeration storage system to improve the quality.

"Through the Association, the use of financial resources and exchange of experience for the implementation of new ideas will become easier. It will raise our level of awareness and facilitate our participation in making decisions in this field," Isomiddinov said.