The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, announced that he will lead a trade mission to Indonesia and Malaysia in October 2018.
The Minister was speaking at the 17th meeting of Food Wise 2025 High-Level Implementation Committee, which he chaired, where he also talked about Brexit, Market Development and the Tillage and Horticulture sectors.
Rising To The Challenge
The trade mission to Indonesia and Malaysia comes as an effort to drive the agriculture sector forward and meet its challenges head-on.
“My Department is continuing to assess the impacts of Brexit on the agri-food sector, for which preparedness and contingency planning is a priority, the Minister said.
“I will continue to work with our Agencies and stakeholders to ensure the sector is prepared, as much as it can be, for Brexit”.
Market Development was identified as one of the five cross-cutting themes within Food Wise 2025. It highlights the need to ensure that Irish products are targeted at the right markets and the right segments within these markets.
“I would urge all of the stakeholders, public and private, to refocus their efforts and to drive the sector forward to meet both the opportunities and challenges in developing new markets for the Irish agri-food sector,” Creed continued.
Creed acknowledged the contribution made by the Tillage and Horticulture sectors of some €700 million to agricultural output.
He said, “In line with the primary sector as a whole, tillage and horticulture have faced challenges this year. In partnership with them, we will continue to support and develop the sectors”.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
