Martinovic thanks Brazil for abstaining in UNGA vote

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Aleksandar Martinovic received Brazilian Ambassador to Belgrade Jose Mauro Couto on Tuesday, thanking the government and the friendly people of Brazil for the country's abstention in a vote on a UN General Assembly resolution on Srebrenica.

"The Republic of Serbia understands your UN representative's abstention during the vote as a friendly act," Martinovic noted.

According to a statement released by Martinovic's ministry, the parties discussed an upcoming visit to Serbia by a Brazilian Agriculture Ministry delegation headed by Assistant Minister Julio Cesar Forte Ramos.

Martinovic informed the ambassador that Serbia was a traditionally agricultural country that mostly produced grains, fruit and vegetables and that its government and the Agriculture Ministry faced a challenge in the form of a need to boost the livestock fund and that Brazil's experience and technologies utilised in beef production would be very important for Serbia.

"Space for cooperation also exists in biofuel production - where Brazil is extremely experienced - all the more so because such production helps protect the environment, and the knowledge and experience of your scientists in science and technology could be applied in the Republic of Serbia as well," Martinovic said.