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Armenia interested in cooperation with Belarus in agriculture

MINSK, 1 July (BelTA) – Armenia is interested in advancing cooperation with Belarus in agriculture. Armenia President Armen Sarkissian made the relevant statement as he met with Belarusian Agriculture and Food Minister Anatoly Khotko on 1 July, BelTA has learned.

Armen Sarkissian spoke highly of the quality of Belarusian food. “Belarus has a large potential in the area of agriculture,” he said.

According to the Armenian head of state, his country is intent on saturating the market with safe and quality foods. Cooperation in this direction has great prospects. “We would like to use Armenia’s territory to create a food safety platform. The platform will be used to implement certain agreements with producers from various countries,” Armen Sarkissian said.

In turn, Anatoly Khotko noted positive dynamics in food trade between the two countries. In 2018 the export of agricultural products rose by 30% from 2017 to $13 million. In January-April 2019 export rose by over 20% to $5.1 million. The meeting touched upon the possibility of implementing joint projects, which can spur trade growth.

Anatoly Khotko noted: “We suggest working not only in the sphere of food trade. We suggest looking at the entire range of agricultural machines and other machines, beefing up the role of Belarus’ trading house in Yerevan and setting up a trading house of Armenia in Belarus.”

The Belarusian agriculture and food minister stressed that Armenia looks promising from the point of view of promoting Belarusian products to markets of neighboring countries and diversifying export.

The sides also discussed the establishment of joint enterprises and interaction in animal husbandry. The Armenia president intends to send representatives of the Agriculture Ministry and the private sector to Minsk in order to step up bilateral contacts.

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