DUSHANBE, January 29, 2016, Asia-Plus -- Tajikistan has reportedly reduced its wheat flour imports.

“In 2015, Tajikistan imported more than 140,000 tons of wheat flour, which was nearly 26 percent fewer than in 2014,” Firdavs Asmatbekov, an official with the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus on January 28.

In 2014, Tajikistan reportedly imported 189,000 tons of wheat flour.

Meanwhile, Tajikistan’s wheat imports last year rose nearly 11 percent compared to 2014.

“Last year, Tajikistan imported nearly 859,000 tons of wheat, which was 84,000 tons more than in 2014,” the Statistics Agency official said.

According to him, Tajikistan imported nearly 775,000 tons of wheat in 2014.

Kazakhstan provides the bulk of Tajikistan’s grain and flour imports.  Last year, Kazakhstan reportedly accounted for 98.7 percent of Tajikistan’s wheat flour imports and 99.8 percent of Tajikistan’s wheat imports.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT), grain and flour remain the most important imported food products.