Business news

MINSK, 18 April (BelTA) – In January-February 2018 Belarus’ farm exportsrose by 7.4%, Aleksei Bogdanov, Head of the Central Office for Foreign Economic Activities of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry, told reporters at the Dairy Belarus international forum, BelTA has learned.

“In January-February 2018 the Belarusian agricultural industry expanded by 7.4% over January-February 2017. The trade reached $765 million. We recorded the growth in exports to all markets, except for Russia. For the two months we exported twice as much products to the CIS countries (excluding Russia). Belarus’ exports to Asia and Oceania rose 1.5 times. Shipments to Americas also increased. The supply of agricultural products to the non-CIS countries went up by 13.5%. I believe that this is a very good trend. We hope that our manufacturers will continue to gain momentum to ensure an export growth this year,” Aleksei Bogdanov noted.

In 2017, Belarus exported its agricultural products to 70 countries of the world, including 18 new markets. Dairy products were exported to 46 countries. “Last year, we established a good basis which we need to work on this year: to increase the supplies, to expand the product range. All the prerequisites are in place for this. Enterprises of the dairy industry are implementing modernization programs, applying advanced technologies. We need to work on logistics, search for new customers and partners, and build up the the volume of shipments,” Aleksei Bogdanov noted.

A delegation from China will arrive in Belarus on 19 April. “The main issue for the discussion is the certification of our enterprises to supply poultry to the Chinese market. We hope that this visit will allow us to get another product certified for the deliveries to China. We have been working on these issues with China for a long time. We export dairy products to the Chinese market. Two meat plants got certified for the supply of beef. Every year we increase the volume of supplies to China,” Aleksei Bogdanov said.