Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 4
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
Azerbaijan and Poland plan to further expand cooperation in various fields of agriculture, a statement was made at a meeting of Azerbaijani Minister of Agriculture Heydar Asadov and his Polish counterpart Marek Sawicki in Baku Nov. 3.
The meeting was held in the extended format. The future cooperation between the two countries in various fields of agriculture were discussed, the ministry said.
Asadov said at the meeting that Azerbaijan is historically an agricultural country.
"Around 37-38 percent of the country's population is engaged in agriculture," he said. "It is developing rapidly after Azerbaijan gained its independence. Agriculture is a priority area of the non-oil sector of the country."
The minister stressed the importance of a high level of cooperation between the two countries in the sphere of agriculture and the use of Poland's experience and the export-import potential of the two countries.
Asadov put forward several proposals to increase cooperation between the two countries. In particular, it is proposed to establish a regular exchange of experience in the implementation of the methodology and a system of measures in the field of agriculture, to cooperate in the field of staff training, to inform about the Polish companies with export potential and their goods.
It was also proposed to carry out joint activity for Poland to support the reforms in Azerbaijan in the field of artificial insemination and to consider the joint appeal of the two countries to the EU regarding this issue.
The minister proposed to implement joint projects in the field of developing the certified potato growing, expanding the legal framework in the field of agriculture. He also proposed to sign an agreement on cooperation between the ministries in the scientific-technical sphere and the protection of plants to attract investments in the agricultural business and to facilitate the mutual trade in agricultural products. A proposal was also made to establish the exchange of samples of phytosanitary certificates for re-export.
Another proposal covered the cooperation in improving the relevant personnel in virology, bacteriology and toxicology for the laboratories of the State Phytosanitary Control Service by holding the workshops and trainings by Polish experts dealing with GMO identification.
Sawicki said that great attention is paid to the cooperation with Azerbaijan. He spoke about the potential cooperation areas, in particular, pedigree and milk production, animal identification, artificial insemination, as well as export potential of Poland.
Sawicki said that he will make every effort for further development of these relations.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Poland amounted to nearly 62.9 million AZN in the first nine months of 2014, of which $13.3 million accounted for the share of exports. The trade turnover increased by more than 75 percent compared to the same period of last year, the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee said.
edited by CN
