Visit to Austria of the delegation headed by the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia Ignati Arakelyan

15 February, 2018

On February 12-15 the delegation headed by the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia Mr. Ignati Arakelyan visited Austria. The visit aiming at studying the Austrian experience of agricultural productivity and agricultural technology, was co-organized by the World Bank and the Armenian Embassy in Austria.

On February 12, Mr. Josef Plank, Secretary General of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Sustainable Development, received the delegation and reaffirmed Austrian Government's support for Armenia's agricultural projects. The sides also discussed the process of implementation of the memorandum on cooperation signed between the Armenian and Austrian Ministries in 2015.

On February 13, the delegation was hosted by Mr. Günter Griesmayr, CEO of the Austrian AgrarMarkt organization. Parties discussed possibility of exchanging Austrian and Armenian experience in the creation of a unified registry of agricultural units, mapping of territories, and introduction of animal identification mechanisms. Then, Mr. Michael Blass, Director of the marketing affiliate of the same company, spoke about the labeling of agricultural products, raising the awareness of those engaged in agriculture and related issues. On the same day, Mr. Hermann Schultes President of the Austrian Agricultural Chamber, presented to the delegation of the Armenian Ministry of Agriculture the self-organization system of agricultural enterprises in Austria, told about the activities of the country's territorial chambers and cooperatives and about their interaction with state structures.

On February 14, the RA Minister and the delegation were hosted by Dr. Martin Ledolter, Executive Director of the Austrian Development Agency. Austrian and Armenian governmental officials discussed the effectiveness of the common projects supported by ADA and aimed at increasing Armenia's agricultural competitiveness, including those that have already been completed and those will continue to be implemented. Parties agreed to extend the cooperation through including the study of the experience of existing institutional structures in the Austrian agricultural sector, as well as the training of specialists and the prospects of agricultural education.

During its stay in Austria, the delegation visited Austrian farms in Lower Austria and Burgenland, was hosted in agricultural academies focusing on providing vocational education to agricultural specialists, wineries and fruit processing factories, farms and nurseries, had meetings with heads of agricultural equipment and agricultural logistics companies, as well as visited insurance company specialized in agricultural risks.

Mr. Aram Gharibyan, Chief Adviser to the RA President, Mr. Gagik Martirosyan, Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister of RA, and Gegham Gevorgyan, Director of the Agricultural Support Fund, were included in the delegation of RA Minister of Agriculture Arakelyan.

Armenian Ambassador to Austria Dr. Arman Kirakossian, Embassy’s Advisor Arsen Arakelyan, as well as World Bank expert Mr. Hans Christoph Kordik attended the meetings and outgoing visits.

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