Business news

MINSK, 16 January (BelTA) – Belarus began to export agricultural products to 17 new countries in 2017, BelTA learned from Aleksei Bogdanov, head of the main department for foreign economic affairs at the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry.

“In 2017, Belarusian agricultural products were supplied to 68 countries, 17 out of which were new markets: Bahrain, Indonesia, Yemen, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Oman, Egypt, Madagascar, Austria, Finland, and others. Some $9.2 million worth of agricultural products were exported to Qatar in January-November 2017, $4 million to Mongolia, $650,000 to Nepal, $2.3 million to Oman, $1.5 million to Syria, over $300,000 to Egypt. According to recent reports, the organizations affiliated with the Agriculture and Food Ministry sold $2.4 billion worth of products overseas in 2017, up 4.6% from 2016. The overall agricultural exports total almost $5 billion,” Aleksei Bogdanov remarked.

Belarus’ dairy exports to China surged 7.5 times year-on-year in January-November 2017. “We sold 13,000 tonnes of dairy products worth $5.7 million. In general, the exports of the companies of the Agriculture and Food Ministry exceeded $8.8 million in January-November 2017, up 3% from the same period a year prior. The structure of Belarus’ exports of goods has changed too: in 2016, they were dominated by commodities, now the finished products are in the lead. We plan to expand the list of exports to China in 2018. In particular, we intend to redouble the effort to promote Belarusian cheeses and other finished dairy products in this country. Moreover, two meat processing Belarusian companies have been certified to sell into China. We plan to start supplying the products this year,” the official added.

Last week, Belarus’ Meat Dairy Company and Iran’s IMEX sealed a deal to promote Belarusian agricultural products in Iran. This primarily refers to beef and butter. AT the next stage, the Belarusian company plans to promote dried milk and baby formulas on Iran’s market along with cheeses and other dairy products. The agreement envisages cooperation to certify Belarusian companies to deliver products to Iran. The sides are considering boosting the exports of agricultural products to Iran to around $100 million per annum.