Business news

MINSK, 19 February (BelTA) – Export of the enterprises affiliated with Belarus’ Agriculture and Food Ministry to the United States surged by 46% in 2017, Aleksei Bogdanov, the head of the main department for foreign economic affairs at the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry, told the media on 19 February.

In 2017, Belarus saw its agricultural exports increase in all regions. For example, the exports to the United States rose by 46%, to the EU countries by 24%. Deliveries of agricultural products to the CIS countries (excluding Russia) went up 1.9 times, to Asia and Oceania - 3 times, to Africa - by 11%,” Aleksei Bogdanov noted.

Export diversification remains the priority for the ministry. “This requires a flexible combination of efforts in several main areas. First we will be working to deepen cooperation in the Eurasian Economic Union. Second we will develop the partner relations with the EU countries in view of the possible accession of our country to the WTO. The WTO accession talks have intensified. Tomorrow our delegation flies to Geneva to hold a number of bilateral meetings with the partner countries. Third we need to expand our presence in the non-traditional markets, especially in Asia and the Arab states. We have made good progress in this area. But still there is a lot of work ahead, especially in the matters of logistics,” Aleksei Bogdanov noted.

The farm export diversification strategy also suggests stepping up promotional campaigns abroad, taking part in more international exhibitions, developing e-commerce and promoting a wider use of modern information technologies. “In recent years e-commerce has been gaining momentum, and Belarus is not going to lag behind. We expose farm products through the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange. ZAO Meat and Dairy Company and the Chinese company Drex Food Group Co., Ltd. signed an agreement to set up a joint venture in Shanghai to promote Belarusian food products into the Chinese market. It will promote agricultural products using electronic trading tools,” Aleksei Bogdanov said.