Germany-Iran Target Boosting Agriculture, Food Co-op

Berlin, Jan 22, IRNA -- Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran hosted a meeting on intensifying Iran-Germany cooperation in agriculture and food fields, attended by Iranˈs Minister of Agriculture Jihad Mahmoud Hojjati. Addressing the gathering, Hojjati stressed the need to boost bilateral agriculture and food cooperation, according to the IRNA correspondent in Berlin. He urged the German agricultural and food companies to invest in Iranˈs agricultural and food industries, saying that they would also benefit from tax exemption. The minister reiterated that the plans by Iranˈs agriculture industry could serve to deepen the countryˈs trade ties with Europe, especially with Germany. He also said that the Iranian companies could benefit from Germanyˈs marketing and food packing industry, as well as the technological expertise in the sphere of agriculture. Hojjati meanwhile pointed to the production and export of the Iranian herbal medicine as another example for such cooperation. The Iranian minister was in Berlin to take part in the 6th Summit of Agriculture Ministers. Representing nearly 3 billion people or 40 percent of the world population, some 72 agriculture ministers participated in the top-level meeting following an invitation by the German agricultural ministry. Among those invited were also representatives of the UN, European Commission and the World Bank. Talks focused on socio-economic, as well as ecological challenges for the food and agricultural industry amid a growing world population and worsening climate change. The summit coincided with a protest march of tens of thousands in the German capital over the weekend, demanding fundamental changes to the global agricultural policies./end