"The Eurasian Economic Union is a global player
on the world agro-food market. We have faced the task of achieving sustainable
development of agricultural production in order to fully provide the population
with food", - stressed Sergey Sidorsky,
Member of the Board - Minister in charge of Industry and Agriculture of the
Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) at the panel session “Global Food Security: Who
Will Feed the Growing Population of the Planet?” as part of the St. Petersburg
International Economic Forum – 2018.
The EEC
Minister stated that the Union uses common approaches to ensure a balanced
development of the common market. The EAEU countries fully meet the domestic
demand through their own production in grain, vegetables, potatoes, vegetable
oils, eggs, sugar. In the short term, the Union will meet the needs of the
population for almost all goods, including milk, poultry and pork.
The
countries of the integration association have the potential to increase the volumes
of competitive production and development of exports of high-tech products of
the agricultural sector.
"The global prospects for agriculture are
determined by the development of modern digital technologies and precision
farming systems. At the same time, the Union is open for mutually beneficial
trade and economic cooperation, attracting foreign investments and technologies
to the agricultural sector", - the EEC
Minister noted.
According
to Sergey Sidorsky, in order to ensure food security, the five countries'
common tasks include reducing the dependence on imports of breeding and genetic
resources, developing production of feed, feed additives, complex fertilizers,
plant protection products, and developing agricultural machinery.
The EEC has
developed a set of incentive measures for each of the areas. For example, joint
actions have been defined to develop seed farming and livestock breeding in the
EAEU, measures have been developed to support agricultural machinery
manufacturers, actions have been taken to create conditions for localization of
modern technology and high-technology resources for agriculture in the Union.
"Joint actions of our countries, cooperation with
foreign partners will allow us to implement the potential for increasing the
volumes of competitive production and exports. Thus, we will make a significant
contribution to ensuring global food security", - Sergey Sidorsky summed up.