The Protocol was signed as part of the 3rd Regional Forum on Agricultural Policy dedicated to development of rural areas and development opportunities in the region, held in Skopje and Vranje until June 4, and organised by the Serbian and Macedonian agricultural ministries, with the support of the German GTZ and Inwent organisations.
The Protocol determines and regulates the frameworks for strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the area of agriculture, food industry and rural development, and particularly relates to the development of farming, cooperatives and partnerships. It also relates to the creation and development of consultancies, agricultural services, ecologically friendly agriculture, rural tourism, regional trademarks and origin certificates, regional markets and veterinary and phytosanitary services and controls.
Cooperation will be implemented through the exchange of scientific and technical information, documentation and experience, the defining of a common rural development policy, the support of European integration processes, intensification of institutional cooperation and joint solutions for personnel training, tender participation, realisation of projects financed by the international community and bilateral cooperation with other countries.
The signing of this document is in accordance with the commitment of both countries to European and regional integration, and cooperation in the area of agriculture, the most important segment of economic development of both Serbia and Macedonia.