Abstract
Agriculture plays an important role in Uzbekistan’s economic development. Grape production is one of the historical agricultural products for Uzbek people. The most part of the grapes are exported as table grapes and raisins. Nowadays, Uzbekistan is gradually increasing the production of raisin. Therefore, raisins are Uzbekistan’s one of the main product in agricultural export. Raisin production share in Uzbekistan is 17.8% of fresh grape, which is much more than the world average, 7.0% (OIV statistic 2016). Due to the raisin’s positive health effects, its consumption is increasing gradually in the world by creating a higher demand in the world market. Even though Uzbekistan is one of the top exporting countries in the world by volume, its average price for raisin is remaining very low comparing to the world average price. Achieving the world average price would be a better opportunity for agribusiness participants, in particularly, indirectly increasing the incomes of dehkans, fermers.
Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop sustainable export strategy for the agribusiness in Uzbekistan by finding out the factors for raisins’ low price in the world market. We conducted a questionnaire survey and analysed the AHP model. As the export strategy is subject to multi-criteria decisions, using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model will be powerful method. All criteria or factors influencing the final price of raisins were grouped into six main criterions clusters. The questionnaire had send to more than 500 exporters and received responses from about 10% of them. The results of the questionnaire show that the most important factor in deterring the prices is the quality of the product, availability quality control laboratory, and certification with the best alternative as Golden raisin, following the other varieties. The solution of these factors alone would improve the current issues with the export price by almost half. Another finding of the study is that new agribusiness entrants with less than 3 years of experience in the international trade prefer less capital-intensive raisins comparing to Golden raisins such as black raisins and black raisin soyaki varieties.
