INDAGRA 2018, the international fair for agriculture, opened in Bucharest on Wednesday and will run until November 4. INDAGRA 2018 brings together more than 550 companies from all over the world, 380 of them from Romania. The fair’s degree of internationalisation stands at 31 percent, up from the 2017 edition’s 11 percent. Twenty-five countries of tradition in the agricultural domain, the export and import of agricultural products and high-performance equipment are represented, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, Belarus, Czech Republic, Finland, Republic of Moldova, Russia, South Korea. INDAGRA 2018 benefits from the official international participation of the following countries: Turkey, Finland, Belarus, Greece, Hungary and Spain, and group participations from France and Poland. As part of the exhibition, the authorities subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will organise a series of conferences whose main topics will be: rural development, change of generations in agriculture, development of the rural environment and of agriculture in Romania through CAP post-2020, financial support for farmers offered by APIA via NRDP measures, as well as financial support offered via NRDP for the development of young farmers, boosting the production of fish for Romanian consumers. INDAGRA FOOD and EXPO DRINK will take place alongside INDAGRA. 750 companies from 25 countries are present at the events which consist of five days of exhibition and linked activities (lectures, conferences, round tables). The exhibitions cover a surface of 64,000 square metres, where the largest producers and importers will bring before the public novelties from: agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, public food services and beverages. INDAGRA FOOD is an international food industry fair, while EXPO DRINK is dedicated to wines, beer and other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Ambassador of France Michele Ramis: French Agriculture Minister to visit Romania by end of year Ambassador of France in Bucharest Michele Ramis said on Wednesday at Indagra that she hopes the new French Minister of Agriculture will visit Romania by the end of the year. I wish to highlight the rich Franco-Romanian cooperation in the sectors of animal husbandry, agricultural education, research and I hope, in the forestry field, following the renewal of the strategic partnership,” the diplomat said. She talked about the “rapprochement of visions” between Romania and France within the framework of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, a preliminary to the presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will be held by our country in the first half of next year. “We hope the new Minister of Agriculture pays a visit by the end of this year,” Ramis pointed out. The diplomat also spoke about the Romania-France season. “The season will be inaugurated on November 27 in Paris by the two presidents,” she brought to mind. Michele Ramis emphasized that this season will also tackle the economic sectors, such as agriculture, alongside the cultural sector. Also during the Season, the diplomat mentioned, there will be an economic forum in Paris, on December 6, forum where the Romanian Prime Minister will also participate. “Many businesses in your field will be represented,” Ramis told those present at the Indagra Fair stalls.