It is an outstanding opportunity that we are able to present the highest quality Hungarian food industry products to some 400 thousand people at Europe’s largest agriculture and food industry exhibition (in which Hungary has already been participating for 45 years), Minister of Agriculture Sándor Fazekas said at a press conference to mark the opening of the Green Week expo in Berlin. Hungary is this year’s guest of honour.
“This is the second time that Hungary has been chosen as a partner country of International Green Week. After 2010 we have again received the opportunity to present to the world the development of our agriculture, our excellent, high quality, healthy foods, our gastronomic traditions and the latest novelties of the Hungarian kitchen”, the Minister of Agriculture said before representatives of the international press.
“Without the outstanding performance of Hungarian agriculture, Hungary would not have been given such a prestigious opportunity to present itself in Berlin, and this is also an acknowledgement of the performance of Hungarian farmers. Our agriculture and food industry would not have been able to realise such success if our products did not fulfil the ever-increasing special demands of consumers”, Mr. Fazekas highlighted.
“In 2011, we were perhaps the first in the world to decide to include in our Constitution the fact that it is illegal to include GMO crops in public cultivation. This was also an extremely important decision from a market perspective, because our consumers want nothing to do with GMO products”, he said at the press conference.
“In addition to highlighting the significance of Hungarian-German relations, the fact that Hungary has been invited to be guest of honour before the German public also expresses the fact that the world’s food industry, agriculture and gastronomy must also take Hungary into account”, the Minister of Agriculture said, stressing: “Germany is one of our most important partner countries from both a political and economic perspective”.
“There is a historic community of interests between our two countries and the success of future cooperation also rests on firm foundations. Germany is Hungary’s most important trade partner; agriculture and food industry exports to Germany are increasing every year”, Mr. Fazekas continued.
The Minister also mentioned our most important export products: poultry meat, vegetables, sausages and salamis, outstanding quality, GMO-free honey, wine and pálinka. “In addition to Hungary’s largest food industry producers, our appearance at Green Week as a partner country also represents an outstanding opportunity for SMEs with an interest in exporting”, he said.
“This year, 33 Hungarian exhibitors are showcasing hundreds of products at the Green Week expo”, said the Minister, who also told reporters: “These enterprises showcase the thousand-year-old traditions of Hungarian agriculture, but in addition to representing traditional foods they are also proving that Hungarian cooking is innovative, uses safe and healthy ingredients and deserves its place among the world’s gastronomic superpowers”.
“We would like the expo’s 400,000 visitors to spread the word about Hungarian products and look for our high quality foods on the shelves of German supermarkets all year round”, Mr. Fazekas said in closing.
(Ministry of Agriculture Press Office)
