About 150 companies from over ten countries are taking part in the exhibitions “Food & Drinks. Food Technology” and “Packaging. Depot”, staged at Moldexpo in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, Info-Prim Neo reports. The exhibits opened on May 12 and will last until May 15. The exhibition program includes tasting events, roundtable meetings and conferences, raffles and the contest “Novelty of the Year”, which is intended for companies that have launched the best new products. The winners of the contest will be announced on the last day. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar stressed the importance of the roundtable meetings and conferences that will be centered on the improvement of the food security control, quality certification and packing systems. “These aspects are very important in our efforts to increase the exports of agrifood products to the EU,” he said. “The authorities aim to develop this sector by adopting appropriate legislation that would allow creating modern raw material processing units in every settlement. Moldova has the potential to make ecologically pure and original products and diversity the exports,” Deputy Head of Parliament Serafim Urecheanu said at the opening. Svetlana Ghelan, manager of this year's exhibition, said a number of new companies are participating in the exhibition this year. She said the meat processing industry is represented by a large number of businesses. Entrance to the exhibits is free of charge.