TIRANA, February 24/ATA/- The Albania’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Milva Ekonomi held on Wednesday a bilateral meeting today with the Turkish Minister of Agriculture, Bekir Pakdemirli to sign a grant agreement between the two countries on the donation of some equipment to help reduce surface water flooding.
In her remarks, the Minister Ekonomi said that, bilateral relations between Albania and Turkey in the field of agriculture have developed positively.
“I highly appreciate the donation of equipment to help cope with the flooding situation on agricultural lands by assisting farmers with irrigation and drainage of arable agricultural land. But our cooperation is wider than that because for us it is important to transfer the knowledge of the expertise of Turkish agriculture along with the necessary expertise in Albanian agriculture,” Minister Ekonomi said.
“We have just signed with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development an aid package, an aid grant for MARD to prevent any natural hazards. We are committed to accurately continue the cooperation with the Albanian side, mainly in the exchange of information and knowledge, and at the same time we will stand by you to the best of our ability. I believe and I hope that very soon we will continue cooperation between our two universities, bridges of cooperation will be built in the field of university education as well,” the Turkish Minister Pakdemirli said.
During 2020 exports of agricultural products increased by 24.3%, while imports decreased by 3.8% compared to 2019. The top Albanian products to Turkey are medicinal herbs, spices, raw tobacco, etc. //a.i/
