This study was conducted as a part of the Eurasia Initiative, one of the Korean government's key projects. This research aimed to draw problems and implications by analyzing conditions of agro-food and agricultural input markets in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, regions that are expected to be a hub of Eurasia's economic integration, and to present agricultural cooperation plans between Korea and the two countries by seeking concrete fields for partnership at the government and private level.
The scope of this study included the technology-intensive agricultural input industry as well as agricultural and livestock products and processed foods.
We proposed short- and mid/long-term cooperative plans in consideration of agricultural production conditions and conditions for agricultural products processing and export in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The promising short-term cooperation projects in the processing sector are the chicken industry in Kazakhstan and the fruit and vegetable processing project in Uzbekistan. In the case of short-term partnership programs of the processing sector, foreign companies' direct investment is urgent. Capacity building projects such as technical guidance, education and training should be implemented soon to improve productivity and competitiveness, and this is possible through the government's Official Development Assistance (ODA) project.
The short-term cooperative projects in the trade sector are needed for Uzbekistan's fresh fruits and medicinal herbs that are currently traded, and mid- and long-term cooperation projects in agricultural input trade, including agricultural machinery and greenhouse materials, are necessary in consideration of regions and market conditions.
In Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in transition from the socialist system, because overall societies are rigid, there are many factors that limit accepting new agricultural technologies and operation methods. Therefore, for the development and innovation of new farming techniques, interdisciplinary partnership with universities and research institutes is required. It is needed to strengthen agricultural research and faculty capacity in the short term and to reform the curriculum and establish the agricultural innovation system in the long term.


Researchers: Choi Ji-hyun, Park Mi-seong, Park Hanul
Research Period: 2015. 1. ～ 2015. 12.
E-mail address: jihchoi@krei.re.kr