MINSK, 24 January (BelTA) – The Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry and the German Food and Agriculture Ministry have signed a protocol on arranging internships for young Belarusian agribusiness specialists in Germany in 2017. The document was signed when Belarusian First Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Leonid Marinich visited Berlin. The official took part in the 9th Berlin Agriculture Ministers' Conference and the food, agriculture, and gardening industry fair International Green Week, representatives of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry told BelTA.

When the Belarusian delegation took part in Green Week events, Leonid Marinich briefly met with German Food and Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt. Meetings took place with representatives of the agricultural mechanical engineering companies John Deere and CLAAS and a number of German companies and consulting agencies. Matters concerning future cooperation between the agriculture ministries of Belarus and Germany were discussed as well as ways of attracting German investments into Belarusian agriculture. Ways to build up manufacturing cooperation to make agricultural machines were mentioned.

The Belarusian First Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister met with the heads of the official government delegations of Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Mongolia, Slovenia, Estonia, Armenia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Moldova, and Russia. The development of interagency cooperation and promotion of Belarusian agricultural exports were discussed as well as cooperation between veterinary control services and the participation of foreign delegations in the international agricultural expo Belagro that will take place in Minsk on 6-10 June 2017.

Meanwhile, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the 9th Berlin Agriculture Ministers' Conference. This year's event’s theme was Agriculture and Water – Key to Feeding the World. Delegations from 81 countries as well as representatives of international organizations — the United Nations Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank and several other ones — took part in the event.

Leonid Marinich presented Belarus’ approaches to the items on the conference’s agenda.

The 82nd fair International Green Week is one of the world’s largest forums in the area of agriculture and food. It has existed since 1926. About 1,600 exhibitors from Germany and over 70 other countries presented their products on an area of 125,000m2.

In 2008-2015 Belarus was represented by a collective exposition of Belarusian food industry companies. In 2016 Belarus was represented by the brewery OAO Lidskoe Pivo. This year the Belarusian food company Santa Bremor has arranged its own stand to display a large selection of the products it makes.

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