Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy (MAFWE) Ljupco Dimovski and US Ambassador to Macedonia Paul Wohlers dicussed Wednesday in Skopje on the bilateral cooperation and development programs (Cochran and AgBiz).

The Cochran Fellowship Program provides US-based agricultural training opportunities for senior and mid-level specialists and administrators from public and private sectors who are concerned with agricultural trade, agribusiness development, management, policy, and marketing. Each year 5-6 representatives of relevant Macedonian institutions attend 2-3 week high-quality training in the US, which should assist to developing a national agricultural system necessary to meet the food and fiber needs of the domestic population; and strengthen, enhance trade linkages between Macedonia and agricultural interests in the US.

The goal of USAID AgBiz is to increase economic growth in Macedonia through expanded, environmentally sustainable production and sales of value-added agricultural products by enabling producers and processors to compete regionally and globally. This will produce greater incomes for agricultural processors and producers, and ultimately higher revenues for government.

By developing effective support systems for producers and by strengthening the linkages among producers, processors and their markets, the AgBiz is enabling agribusiness to locate and meet market demand, Dimovski and Wohlers agreed at the meeting.

Support for MAFWE strategic planning and policy making is also part of the AgBiz program.

Positive trends has been registered in 2010-2011 Macedonia-US trade exchange in agricultural, food products. Macedonia mainly exports tobacco, wine and cheese to the US, MAFWE.