Saudi Arabia interested in more dynamic agricultural cooperation

Chisinau, February 28 /MOLDPRES/- Several possibilities to increase trade and investments were examined yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bolea, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry at a meeting with Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Moldova residing in Bucharest Mohammed bin Abdul Ghani Khayat.

The sides agreed on the coordination of joint actions at the governmental level, in order to create a more dynamic framework for cooperation in the economic sector.

"The Republic of Moldova is among the main countries producing apples, grapes and nuts. The quality of our products is appreciated by both eastern and European importers. Our country also has a high potential for honey production and export. At the same time, we intensified carrying out the ministry's commitments, which derive from the status of a candidate state for EU accession, and we hope to launch the export of poultry meat and category B eggs on the EU market as soon as possible. Of course, it would be an opportunity if we made further progress on the Saudi Arabian market as well," said Bolea.

In 2022, local producers exported over a thousand tons of apples to Saudi Arabia. "We want these quantities to increase," he said.

According to the National Statistics Bureau, in 2021 the export of Moldovan goods to Saudi Arabia amounted to about 4.8 thousand US dollars, and the volume of imported goods was almost 4 thousand dollars.

Photo: MAIA