Participants at Balkan food security meeting in Sofia support strengthening regional agri-food trade

Enhancing trade in agri-food commodities among the countries of the Balkan region was the focus of talks on the second day of the regional meeting, which took place on February 10-11, 2023 in Sofia. The session on the second day of the Balkan meeting on regional food security challenges in times of crises was chaired by Deputy Agriculture Minister Georgi Sabev.

The debate focused on harnessing regional potential for sustainable production, and on sharing experiences in terms of circular bioeconomy.

Sabev noted that countries in the region often look to more distant or larger markets, where global competition is also much greater. According to him, the potential of the Balkan region of tens of millions of consumers, which also offers opportunities for trade and development, is often underestimated. "Closer cooperation between our countries will help our producers to succeed in the face of current or future challenges," Sabev added.

All participants agreed on the importance of cooperation and the establishment of regional supply chains. Experts commented on the advantages of using local varieties in the context of climate change, which is a significant challenge in the agricultural sector. 

The participants discussed the possibilities for future Balkan cooperation in the field of rural tourism, including the offering of common routes, and joint projects to protect common Balkan food products. Sabev presented the Bulgarian framework programme for local and regional traditional products, which was adopted in December 2022, whose main objective is to give visibility to Bulgarian traditional products and help rural development.

Delegations from Romania, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Slovenia took part in the event initiated by the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture.