Minister Han Changfu Meets with Austrian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management

Source: MOA Department of International Cooperation

May 4-Minister Han Changfu met with the visiting Austrian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Mr. Niki Berlakovich.

During the meeting, Minister Han said that China-Austria cooperation in agriculture had a sound foundation with rapid growth in agricultural trade and huge potential of more cooperation. The Chinese side stood ready to work with the Austrian counterparts in advancing bilateral agricultural cooperation. Minister Han also put forward four suggestions concerning the bilateral cooperation: first, to implement the MOU on bilateral agricultural cooperation, with the establishment of working mechanism to set up working programmes and carry out projects of cooperation; second, to enhance cooperation in animal husbandry and animal health, promoting exchanges of animal feeding, breeding, and technologies of quality control and pasture environment protection. A dialogue mechanism should be established for veterinary agencies of the countries for exchanges in animal disease control and prevention, and information sharing; third, to carry out cooperation in sustainable agriculture, strengthening cooperation in agricultural environment supervision and management; and fourth, to establish a cooperation platform for companies of the two countries, promoting China-Austria agricultural trade.

Minister Berlakovich agreed with Minister Han and appreciated China s effort in promoting bilateral agricultural cooperation. He expressed the willingness to continue to promote the bilateral cooperation in ecological agriculture and animal husbandry to achieve win-win outcomes.

Date: 15:04 5 May 2010