BUCHAREST, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that the country has huge potential in agriculture and could become an agricultural force in Europe.
"We have everything needed to make our country a real force in the agricultural and food sector, but to do this we need to recover delays and eliminate some shortcomings," the head of state told the opening ceremony of the annual Indagra agricultural trade fair, the largest agricultural exhibition in the eastern European country.
The president pointed out that Romania holds the sixth-largest agricultural area in the European Union and is one of the top 10 exporters of wheat and corn worldwide.
"We must capitalise on in a smart and sustainable way," stressed Iohannis, expressing dissatisfaction with the current state of agriculture in the country, as the imports of agro-food products in the first half of the year were up 17 percent to almost 3.5 billion euros (4.13 billion U.S. dollars), but exports increased by only 4.5 percent, which resulted a trade deficit of over 1 billion euros (1.18 billion dollars) only from agricultural products.
It is essential for Romania to get out of the vicious circle by which the country exports primary products and imports high added value ones, he said, stressing that the country must enrich the value chain in its agricultural sector by developing the livestock sector and industry food.
The president encouraged young people to opt for agriculture.
"I encourage young people to turn their face to agriculture, with optimism, but especially with the economic interest to perform in agriculture," he said, adding that the Romanian villages can rejuvenate only through and together with agriculture, and entrepreneurship can be the most dynamic and safe catalyst for the development of middle class in Romania.
