We invite you to take part in second international forum - Caspian & Central Asia Grain Forum 2023. This year Forum will change its venue and will be held in Samarkand for the first time, on October 3-4.

Again Uzbekistan will host key Russian grain, oilseeds and flour exporters. So, last year forum gathered more than 130 delegates from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. This year we are planning to expand number and geography of Forum participants, which will be an important event for Central Asia and Caspian region market at the beginning of new grain and oilseed seasons.

As you know, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Afghanistan are dependent on external wheat purchases. For example, in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan in current season, own production can provide only 78%, 55% and 57% of the projected domestic consumption of wheat, respectively.

Traditional suppliers to Central Asia countries and Afghanistan are Kazakh agricultural producers and flour mills. At the same time, Russian exports to the countries of the region are limited, first of all, by high tariffs for rail transit through the territory of Kazakhstan. Despite all the problems, Russian supplies to some countries in the region are growing. Russian wheat export to Kazakhstan (+22%), Azerbaijan (+16%) and Kyrgyzstan increased, and, for example, Russian flour supply to Afghanistan increased 20 times over the 2021/2022 season. Due to the growth of barley and corn supplies to Iran, the flow through the Russian ports of the Caspian Sea increased by a quarter. An increase in the supply of sunflower and rapeseed oil to the same Iran is recorded.

We will talk about these and other trends and problems at the Caspian & Central Asia Grain Forum 2023.

Also among the forum topics:

• competition of Russian and Kazakh agricultural producers on Central Asia markets;
• railway logistics for exporters: tariffs problem, shortage of hopper cars and locomotive traction in the region, traffic bottlenecks at border junctions, unloading speed at stations of importing countries;
• bulk carrier fleet freight market in the Caspian basin;
• capability of the Caspian ports of Russia for export cargoes transshipment;
• role of container shipments to the countries of the region;
• transport corridors towards Iran and Turkmenistan development.

Special conference topic – Export of agricultural goods to Afghanistan: logistics features.

Forum will be held on the territory of Silk Road Samarkand - newest multidisciplinary tourist complex that combines cultural and business tourism facilities. During the first day, forum guests will have a rich business program, which will end with an Oriental-style dinner.

Second day of the Forum traditionally will be devoted to delegates' informal communication who will be able to see Samarkand – one of the oldest cities in the world. The city is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. After the tour, forum guests will have a unique fragrant lunch with national cuisine dishes in a traditional Uzbek restaurant.

Pay attention! There is an international airport in Samarkand that accepts flights from many cities of Russia, Istanbul, Dubai and Baku. It is also easy to get to Samarkand from Tashkent by a comfortable high-speed train.