Business news
Belarus aims for balance in trade relations with Uzbekistan
SAMARKAND, 5 December (BelTA) - We are doing our best to achieve a balance in building trade relations, Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Zayats said at the tenth session of Belarus-Uzbekistan joint intergovernmental commission on bilateral cooperation on 5 December, BelTA has learned.
According to the vice premier, Belarus and Uzbekistan enjoy warm and friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation.
“Regular meetings of the heads of state and government of our countries have made it possible to reach a qualitatively new level of bilateral cooperation. Thanks to joint efforts, we have significantly increased mutual trade, new formats of interaction have been introduced and are being successfully implemented: Forum of Regions, Agrarian Forum, Business Council, Women's Business Forum, which served well to strengthen and develop cooperation between our countries in all areas,” Leonid Zayats emphasized.
The trade between the two countries keeps growing. “In 2022, we fulfilled the task set by the presidents of our countries to achieve $500 million in mutual trade,” the deputy prime minister said adding that mutual trade would increase by the end of the year.
According to Leonid Zayats, Belarus-Uzbekistan interaction is vibrant and the parties show great interest in cooperation. “In building trade relations we strive to achieve a balance. The active growth of supplies of goods from Uzbekistan observed in recent years is a very positive factor. Belarus has a steady demand for supplies of Uzbekistan’s cotton yarn and knitwear, superstructures for special machinery, rolled metal products, wine materials necessary for the Belarusian industry. Belarus is also interested in the purchase of Uzbekistna’s fresh fruit and vegetable products, nuts and dried fruits,” the deputy prime minister said.
“In turn, we are ready to ensure stable supplies of items demanded in the market of Uzbekistan, including high-quality meat, dairy and other food products, products of woodworking, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries, road-building, municipal and truck equipment, medical drugs and machinery,” the deputy prime minister emphasized.
An effective tool to expand trade is to open trade infrastructure facilities by producers and exporters of our countries to showcase national products. Belarusian enterprises are already working in this area in the market of Uzbekistan: they are developing a retail trade network for Belarusian goods, and there are plans to open trade facilities for food, light and woodworking products. Plans are in place to set up a distribution center for meat and dairy products. “We count on the interest and support of Uzbekistan in these projects. In turn, we invite our colleagues to consider the possibility of opening representative offices of export companies and retail trade facilities in Belarus to promote Uzbekistan’s products,” Leonid Zayats said.
In his words, intensification of bilateral cooperation is impossible without providing the necessary conditions. Therefore, it is important to take a comprehensive approach to cooperation issues. In particular, there is a need to expand interaction at the level of financial structures of Belarus and Uzbekistan in order to develop mutually acceptable solutions for financial transactions between entities in foreign economic activity.
Belarus suggested working out a program of bilateral cooperation in order to implement comprehensive programs of long-term cooperation.
“For more systematic work in certain sectors of the economy, expansion of interaction formats and search for new areas of cooperation, I propose to pay attention to the functioning of sectoral working groups. Now on a regular basis there are meetings of the working group in agriculture, as well as a mixed commission in the transport sector. It is advisable to organize the work of groups in industry, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, construction, light industry, woodworking, forestry and water management, which will be working bodies of the intergovernmental commission,” the deputy prime minister said.
The meeting in Samarkand also discussed interaction in humanitarian affairs. The parties talked about cultural ties and educational programs. Leonid Zayats said that taking into account the trends in the educational market of Uzbekistan, a number of Belarusian universities are considering opening branches or joint faculties.
Healthcare was another topic the participants of the meeting considered. The Days of Healthcare and Medical Education of Belarus were a success in Uzbekistan this year. The first Belarusian-Uzbek Medical Forum has been recently held in Minsk. Today, the intergovernmental council discussed the development of cooperation between medical professionals, exchanges, internships, and talked over joint educational and research projects in the area. The parties also considered interaction in physical culture and sports, and also sports medicine.
The protocol of the tenth session of Belarus-Uzbekistan joint intergovernmental commission on bilateral cooperation reflects the entire agenda discussed during the meeting. The parties discussed the state and prospects of trade and economic cooperation, paying special attention to industry, agriculture and healthcare.
According to Leonid Zayats, the reached agreements included in the final protocol will determine the further vector of Belarus-Uzbekistan cooperation in the near future.
print version
make home page
add to bookmarks
