Vice Minister Niu Dun meets Slovenian Minister of Agriculture
DATE:2014-10-29 SOURCE:MOA
Vice Minister Niu Dun met with Mr. Dejan Židan, Slovenian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry & Food, in Ljubljana on October 24, 2014. The two sides exchanged views and reached consensus on strengthening China-Slovenia agricultural communication and cooperation.
Niu noted that since Premiere Li Keqiang and leaders of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries announced the Bucharest Guidelines in Romania at the end of 2013, the collaboration between China and Slovenia and other CEE countries has opened a new chapter, fueling the sound development of bilateral and multilateral agricultural cooperation.
In order to step up pragmatic cooperation between China and Slovenia, Niu put forward a four-point proposal: first, to establish a bilateral working group at an early date in order to map out and focus on cooperation priorities ; second, to boost bilateral agricultural trade through the Agro-trade & Economic Cooperation Forum between China and CEE Countries, the Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and CEE Countries and other platforms,; third, to foster communication and cooperation in key areas, including agro-product quality & safety, plant and animal germplasm exchange and agricultural processing, through exchange visits of technical personnel, joint research programs and workshops; and fourth, to enhance the partnership in fisheries and animal health.
Minister Židan fully agreed with Niu on the above proposal. He said that the Slovenian side is keen to work with China to promote pragmatic cooperation between the two countries. After the meeting, the two sides signed the Action Plan 2015-2016 on Cooperation in the Field of Agriculture between the Ministry of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Food of the Republic of Slovenia.