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Minsk, Malabo thrash out cooperation plans
MINSK, 19 October (BelTA) – Belarus and Equatorial Guinea have agreed to expand cooperation across the board, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Aleinik told journalists after the first meeting of the joint commission on trade and economic cooperation between the Government of Belarus and the Government of Equatorial Guinea in Minsk, BelTA has learned.
He emphasized that Belarusian mechanical engineering industry is ready and willing to make a meaningful contribution to mechanization of Equatorial Guinea’s agricultural sector.
“We are also negotiating the supply of trucks, passenger vehicles, trailers, special equipment, mining dump trucks for the steadily growing economy of Equatorial Guinea,” said Sergei Aleinik. “Over the past 25 years, this country’s GDP has skyrocketed more than 52 times. The country has one of the best GDP per capita in Africa. I am confident that Belarusian technologies and competencies can make a meaningful contribution to maintaining and increasing the pace of economic growth of this country. The country seeks to make a transition away from raw materials towards an innovative and knowledge-driven economy. And we can stand our friends in good stead here,” Sergei Aleinik continued.
“We also have something to offer in the field of healthcare. Very soon we will open a training center at one of Belarusian medical universities to teach students from Equatorial Guinea and other African countries and to improve qualifications of doctors. One of new areas is interaction in the field of forestry and environmental protection,” the foreign minister noted.
“Our countries are committed to promoting long-term cooperation, which means that our cooperation will extend beyond trade to include sophisticated joint projects in various sectors,” the minister continued. “That is why we agreed to draft and adopt a cooperation roadmap until 2030,” he remarked.
He went on saying that in order to quickly achieve results in each area, a decision was taken to set up a number of subcommittees and working groups within the commission.
“Of course, we have plans to help us sustain such a workload. We are set to complete the procedures necessary to open our embassy in Equatorial Guinea and, as I assumed during the talks with my counterpart, Equatorial Guinea also plans to open its embassy in the Republic of Belarus,” the foreign minister emphasized.
“We are also unanimous in our opinion that no progress is possible without active communication between the business communities. Therefore, the chambers of commerce and industry were actively involved in the networking process. We agreed to arrange business forums,” the foreign minister informed.
In addition to that, there are plans to flesh out the legal framework and sign new bilateral agreements.
Sergei Aleinik is confident that all these steps will invigorate mutual economic activity and will help reach $100 million in trade by 2030. In the strategic perspective, Belarus is interested in creating a production and logistics hub for its products in Equatorial Guinea and sell them not only in this country, but also in the countries of Central and West Africa.
“Equatorial Guinea is part of the African Continental Free Trade Area of 54 states, as well as the Economic Community of Central African States with 11 members. This opens up additional opportunities to establish a solid presence in the markets of African states. For its part, Belarus offered Equatorial Guinea to become a facilitator of its trade with the EAEU markets. I strongly believe that the foundation of relations that we are building will allow us to implement bilateral cooperation projects in the very near future,” the foreign minister concluded.
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