Greater efficiency in Moldova’s fruit and vegetable production and trade is the goal of a joint effort by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Moldovan National Federation of Agricultural Producers (AGROinform).

More than 120 fruit producers, traders, retailers and market experts from all regions of Moldova, as well as representatives of supermarket chains and fruit importers from Belarus, Romania, Russia, Tajikistan and Ukraine, get together today for the First International Conference on Fresh Produce Retailing and Exports in Moldova.

The event aims to promote positive linkages in the value chain within the sector and share the best marketing, technological and post-harvest handling practices, with a view to supporting the development of modern local retail systems and new export opportunities, according to EBRD.

“The diversification of Moldova’s fruit exports is very low, as more than 90 per cent of the fruit exported ends up on the market of the Eurasian Customs Union”,” said FAO economist Andriy Yarmak. “We are trying to help local producers develop new markets both within Moldova and outside the country. This requires modernisation along the whole value chain.”

Read more at The Financial.