Some 400 thousand visitors will have the opportunity to taste dried buffalo meat, mango-flavoured beer and Hungarian paprika wine at the world's largest agriculture, food industry and gardening exhibition in Berlin this week. This is the 41st time that Hungary is taking part in the International Green Week (Grüne Woche) exhibition and trade fair, this time with a 500 square metre stand. The agricultural diplomacy events linked to the fair affect some 5 billion people.

Hungarian exhibitors will be showing off a host of exciting specialities including paprika wine, various spiced spreads and marzipan confectioneries at the fair, which lasts from January 18-27 and is expected to attract around 400 thousand visitors.

Exhibitors from five continents and 67 countries will be promoting their products at this year's 78th Green Week, eight more than last year. Several countries, such as Kosovo, will be attending the fair for the first time this year. The number of enterprises and organisations participating at the event has also risen from 1600 to 1630 since last year. Close to 100 thousand products will be presented at the fair, including thousands of delicacies such as mango-flavoured beer from Ghana and Canadian-made dried buffalo meat. The 500 square metre Hungarian stand was opened by Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas.

Agricultural diplomacy –affects 5 billion people

The Green Week is also becoming an increasingly important forum for agricultural diplomacy each year. The so-called Agricultural Ministers' Summit will be held parallel to the fair for the fifth time this year, with representatives from 84 countries taking part. A total of some 5 billion people live in these countries, 70 percent of the world's population. The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture is also timed to coincide with the Berlin fair.

One of the main topics of this year's meetings is expected to be the reform of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The significance of the talks is clearly indicated by the fact that farmers from the EU receive a total of some 55 billion euros each year within the framework of the CAP.

In addition to the various forums and conferences, the delegation from the Hungarian Ministry of Rural Development will also be holding a series of bilateral talks. Minister Sándor Fazekas will be meeting several colleagues in Berlin, including his counterparts from Poland, Latvia and Montenegro.

(portfolio.hu)