The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, met this Wednesday in Madrid with his counterpart from the Dominican Republic, Francisco Olivo, who is visiting Spain on the occasion of Fruit Attraction 2026, to review bilateral relations and analyze possible new formulas for cooperation in the agri-food sector.
During the meeting, Planas thanked the Dominican official for his presence at this international fair of reference for the fruit and vegetable sector and highlighted the "strength and competitiveness" of the Spanish countryside, as well as the capacity of the national agri-food sector to provide innovative solutions to the challenges facing food systems.
The minister also expressed his recognition to the Dominican Republic for the support offered in the negotiation of the Córdoba Declaration, approved by broad consensus at the XII Ibero-American Conference of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries, held at the end of September in Córdoba.
Planas emphasized that this Declaration provides a common framework to intensify Ibero-American cooperation, promote innovation, and articulate shared responses to the main challenges of food systems.
Furthermore, the Minister of Agriculture highlighted the relevance of Ibero-America as a "key actor" for global food and nutritional security, both for its agri-food productive capacity and for the potential for collaboration existing among the different countries in the region.
In this regard, he advocated for Spain and the Dominican Republic to continue advancing together to strengthen cooperation within the Ibero-American Community and contribute to addressing the current and future challenges of food systems.
On the other hand, the Dominican minister expressed his interest in the mechanization of the agricultural sector and in the Spanish experience in innovation processes, particularly in precision agriculture practices, which constitute one of the strategic lines of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, as well as in the digitalization of production processes.