YEREVAN. – The Minister of Agriculture of Armenia, Sergo Karapetyan, on Wednesday held a consultation with the heads of the agro-industry associations of the country.

In the Karapetyan’s words, these unions need to develop programs to develop and expand their branches of industry, and to work closely with the public sector.

The minister added that the intensification of the activities of these associations also stems from state interests, considering Armenia’s recent accession to the—Russia-led—Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

The discussants also conferred on the current challenges of the country’s processing industry, and especially underscored the improvement of the quality of the products of the Armenian processing companies, since this enhancement will ensure the local products’ competitiveness in the other EEU countries (Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan).

In addition, Sergo Karapetyan drew the discussants’ attention to the importance of selling local meat and exporting local meat products.

The participants in the consultation confirmed yet again that Armenia’s processing companies will be prepared to procure the farmers’ entire produce this year, too.