The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry made public the draft Agriculture and Rural Environment Development Strategy for 2014-2020, which was formulated with the support of the International Finance Corporation. According to Deputy Minister Viorel Guţu, the novelty of the strategy is that it envisions achieving synergy between agriculture and rural environment, IPN reports.

“Only this synergy can contribute to improving the quality of life in rural areas so that they have the necessary infrastructure and become attractive for working and living there. Agriculture and rural environment will furnish goods and services, conserving simultaneously biodiversity, the cultural and traditional values for the future generations,” the official said when presenting the strategy.

An important aspect of the document concerns the enhancement of competitiveness of the agrifood sector by focusing on agricultural products with high value added, improving access to the market and increasing the quality of education and scientific researches in the field.

Under the strategy, the volume of investments in physical and services infrastructure in rural areas will be raised and effort will be made to increase revenues in rural areas.

The strategy is to be implemented at a cost of 12.6 billion lei. 63% of the sum will go to increase competitiveness of the agricultural sector. The money will be allocated from the state budget and by foreign donors.