Kazakhstan and EU discussed strengthening coop in agriculture

"Kazakhstan has an excellent geographic location. In addition to the domestic market there are also very big markets of neighboring countries, such as China and the Far East market, which is also a potential market for your country. All this provides us with an excellent opportunity to promote cooperation in the sphere of agriculture and food products between Kazakhstan and the EU. All of this can give mutually beneficial results and both sides will benefit from this cooperation", European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said at a press conference in the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan yesterday.

He noted that the EU is ready to cooperate with Kazakhstan in the development of agriculture and share knowledge in this area, so that such cooperation would be mutually beneficial.

"During today's meeting, we have discussed such issues as organic production, rural development, the issues relating to phytosanitary inspection and others", F. Hogan said.

In turn, Minister of Agriculture Asylzhan Mamytbekov added that there was a very productive meeting.

"We have considered the issue of deepening of our cooperation and strengthening of our partnership in the field of agriculture. We’ve addressed the issues of transit of goods across the EAEU countries. Also we have agreed to draw up a detailed "road map" on the issues of deepening of cooperation, which we will implement together. We have discussed the issues of expansion of transit through the countries of the Silk Road. We have also considered the experience of the EU on zoning of territories in order to increase the competitiveness of local farmers", A. Mamytbekov said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry stressed that the cooperation with the EU is one of the priorities of Kazakhstan's foreign policy.

According to the Agricultural Ministry, the foreign trade turnover of Kazakhstan and the EU in agricultural products and processed products amounted to 635.9 million dollars in 2015.

"Nowadays the major Italian, German and Hungarian companies are actively expanding their activities in Kazakhstan. Since 2012 Kazakhstan with the financial support of the UNECE and the OECD has conducted the national dialogue on water policy of Kazakhstan, which serves as a platform for the development and implementation of measures for integrated water resource management with the broad participation of the government agencies, private sector and civil society", the Ministry noted.

Source: www.primeminister.kz