Business news

MINSK, 3 April (BelTA) – Belarus and Croatia are talking over the expansion of bilateral economic cooperation, BelTA learnt from the Belarusian embassy in Austria with concurrent accreditation in Croatia.

The abovementioned issues are high on the agenda of the second Belarusian-Croatian Economic Forum in Varazdin on 2-3 April. The forum is organized by the local authorities of the city of Varazin in cooperation with the Chamber of Economics of Croatia, the Brest Office of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Embassy of Belarus in Austria with concurrent accreditation in Croatia.

The event continues the first Belarusian-Croatian Economic Forum that was held in Brest in November 2014 and focuses on the development and strengthening of bilateral trade and economic cooperation. The program of the forum includes business matchmaking sessions between Belarusian and Croatian businessmen, meetings with representatives of the Varazdin Oblast government bodies and visits to companies and industrial zones.

Partaking in the program of the forum is a delegation of businessmen from Brest Oblast led by Brest Oblast Vice Governor Andrei Klets. The delegation comprises representatives of the Brest City Hall, the administration of FEZ Brest, oblast companies.

The first business forum in Brest resulted in mutual agreements to develop cooperation in various areas, including international forwarding, production and sale of equipment, household chemicals and bioadditives, cosmetic products, wood and metal working, civil engineering, oil refinery.

The private company Bernada-Adria, a producer of medical mattresses, has been registered in Brest after the first forum. Talks are underway with Croatian investors on the construction of a concert and exhibition hall in Brest. Croatian partners are studying the possibility of building a brick plant in Pruzhany District and opening manufacturing facilities in the free economic zone Brest.

It is expected that the parties will sign an agreement on cooperation between FEZ Brest and a free economic zone in Varazdin and between the regional offices of the chambers of commerce and industry.