[InTime News]
Rural Development and Food Minister Kostas Tsiaras said on Friday that the survival and development of the agricultural sector is not a matter for party politics.
“It is a national issue, which we must prioritize. We have a duty to keep the primary sector alive and to enhance its contribution to productive activity,” he said launching the 14th AgroThessaly Expo.
“Government policy is clearly oriented toward the development of the agricultural sector,” Tsiaras said, adding that it is important “to provide a vision, but also the opportunity for the people of [agricultural] production to take steps into the future.”
He also said that the government’s goal is to make the primary sector a key pillar of economic policy through specific measures, creating the conditions to strengthen the competitiveness of Greek products.
Referring to the discussions on the new EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), after 2027, he stressed that its goal will be the resilience of the primary sector, to attract young people to primary production, the support of remote and disadvantaged areas, and the adoption of measures to strengthen rural areas.
The minister made particular reference to the importance of agricultural production and the effort to maintain social cohesion, as agricultural products contribute decisively to food sufficiency.