She reported that farmers from the Ak-Turpak district approached her with complaints about low prices for rice that is being smuggled in. "With our prices, they cannot compete with the imported rice and, accordingly, are suffering losses. There are suggestions that the smuggled rice might even be from China. What will the government do to address this problem?" Amanova asked.
In response, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry Bakyt Torobaev stated that he was hearing about rice smuggling for the first time.
“I will discuss this issue with the border services and also strengthen the control of phytosanitary services. I want to note that recently a minister from Uzbekistan approached me with a request for the supply of 32,000 tons of our rice due to a shortage in their country, but I informed him that we cannot provide such a volume,” he added.
