The minister of Agriculture, Asunción Cristas, highlighted yesterday the dynamism of Portuguese agri-food firms and said that the sector's exports are already above the national average, growing by 13% between January and August.
Asunción Cristas stressed that international agri-food trade "has grown steadily," after a visit to SIAL 2012, the International Agri-food Exhibition, which will last until Thursday in Paris and where two dozen Portuguese firms are present.
Food and beverage exports grew by 13% between January and August, which is above the 10.4% of the world average for the same period. The vegetable and fruit sector grew even more, with a 16.3% rise in the same period, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture.