Business news

MINSK, 15 February (BelTA) – Companies affiliated with Belarus’ Ministry of Agriculture and Food increased exports to Turkey almost 100 times in 2017, Aleksei Bogdanov, head of the main department for foreign economic affairs at the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry, said at the Belarusian-Turkish Business Forum in Minsk, BelTA has learned.

“Last year the companies affiliated with Belarus’ Ministry of Agriculture and Food increased exports to Turkey almost 100 times to $10.8 million. Major export items were butter, whole milk powder, cheese and curd, and also eggs. We hope that this forum will help us expand the range of export, the volume of deliveries and establish new ties with business partners in Turkey,” Aleksei Bogdanov said.

At the same time, he said, butter accounted for 90% of total exports. “Last year passed under the sign of the deficit of butter. The prices rose around the world, and we were able to ramp up the export of this product to Turkey,” he noted.

In the future Belarus plans to focus on the cheese group. “We want to agree with Turkey on cheese deliveries. When the season starts, we want the Belarusian cheeses be presented in many hotel chains of the country,” Aleksei Bogdanov.

The Belarusian-Turkish Business Forum in Minsk features a plenary meeting and a business matchmaking event. During the forum, representatives of the business communities of the two countries are set to discuss the prospects for economic cooperation in a number of areas of mutual interest such as machine-building, chemical industry, textile industry, woodworking, logistics, information technology.