On September 28, 2016, in the Conference Room of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of Azerbaijan Republic (AEC), the Round Table on the theme of the "Economic perspectives of the beekeeping sector" was held by the Entrepreneurship Development Foundation (EDF) and Economic Research Center (ERC) in the framework of the Micro-Enterprise Support Project.
Beekeepers from different regions, representatives of public unions, and experts attended the round table.
Sabit Bagirov – President of the Entrepreneurship Development Foundation made opening remarks at the training. Vugar Zeynalov – the vice-president of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of Azerbaijan Republic greeted the participants of the round table.
Thereafter, Samir Aliyev - the expert of the Support for Economic Initiatives Public Union made the presentation on the theme of the "Economic perspectives of the beekeeping sector".
At first, the presenter spoke about the relationship between the per capita income and the beekeeping. He noted that the conducted research shows that interest in beekeeping is directly proportional to the level of income, in other words, higher-income level of the population, higher interest in beekeeping products. He also noted the relationship between the level of education and the interest in beekeeping, therefore people with a higher level of education have more interest in the beekeeping sector.
Then, Samir Aliyev spoke of legislative acts in this field. He noted that the main law in this field is the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on "Beekeeping" adopted on February 2, 2009.
He also spoke about the results of the conducted research. Samir Aliyev mentioned the increase in the number of bee families, between 2006 and 2015 the number of bee families increased more than 2 times across the country. According to him, experts say that approximately 8-10 thousand bee farms are operating in the country.
Then, Samir Aliyev mentioned 10 countries in the world with the greatest number of bee families, the top 3 countries in the list are India, China, and Turkey.
Speaking about the research results, Samir Aliyev said that, the local natural honey production of our country cannot meet the demand. According to the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in 2015, 69.66 tons of natural honey was imported to the country and in recent years, there is an increase in imports. In 2015, the greatest volume of honey was imported from Germany, Turkey, and Russia.
Samir Aliyev mentioned 20 leading countries in the world with the greatest production of honey. These are China, Turkey, and Argentina. Speaking about the export potential, Samir Aliyev noted that, the export potential of honey is still low. However, there is no problem with the sale of natural honey. These are mainly retail sales, wholesale channels are not available.
Then the presenter brought the information to the attention of participants on interesting statistics in the field of beekeeping, as well as SWOT analysis of development opportunities of the beekeeping industry. He noted that all economic regions of the country (with the exception of the Baku economic region) have a favorable climate for the development of beekeeping.
At the end of the presentation, Samir Aliyev mentioned his numerous proposals for the development of beekeeping in the country.
Later, the event continued with discussions. Beekeepers from regions spoke about the problems of beekeeping and voiced their proposals. The presenter answered the questions addressed to him. Round Table ended after interesting discussions.
