November 6, 2012

Belarus urges agricultural firms to tap into new markets

The Minister of Food and Agriculture of Belarus urged agricultural companies to get accreditations to sell products in third countries in order to be able to tap into new markets soonest possible.

Leonid Zayats, Minister of Food and Agriculture of Belarus said that agricultural companies need to get accreditations to sell products in third countries. He noted that this should be done in a very short time in order to be able to tap into new markets as soon as possible.

"We should not limit ourselves merely to the Russian market. Russian enterprises are developing rapidly and our products are no more a novelty there. However, there are regions such as the Middle East or Latin America where our goods could be in high demand," Leonid Zayats, Belarus Food and Agriculture Minister, noted. However, these markets are held by the companies from other countries with more aggressive policy.

The minister also urged the dairy and meat manufacturers to upgrade the processing capacities and do everything to expand into markets of the third countries by the end of 2012 or first quarter of 2013.

"The share of our finished goods in the foreign markets is very small. Others earn money on our products without producing them," Zayats said. Addressing the directors of the dairy and meat enterprises, he expressed his discontent with the increase in the backlog of inventory. Zayats set a task to change the situation for the better till the end of 2012. He demanded that the enterprises should fulfil plans regarding exports and foreign trade balance, which were introduced by the Food and Agriculture Ministry.