Business news

"We are hosting a Czech delegation of 14 people who represent various sectors of Czech business: agriculture and energy, banking and insurance. Therefore, the event has sparked a keen interest on the part of Belarusian businessmen. We hope that the forum will result in good serious contacts and projects,” Alexander Fedorchuk said.

Alexander Fedorchuk stressed that over the past three years, the trade with the Czech Republic has been at a high level. "Despite the crisis, we have kept the bar high. Our trade us about $550-600 million,” he said. Over the two months of 2015 the export across all groups of products to the Czech Republic went up by 25.8% as against the same period of last year. In 2014 Belarus’ export to that country amounted to $128.7 million (up 34.2% from 2013).

The Executive Director of the Czech Chamber of Commerce and Industry for CIS countries Frantisek Masopust noted that the visit of the delegation confirms the interest of the Czech business in the development of cooperation with Belarus. "Some of the companies came here for the first time. They want to see what opportunities there are, and to meet potential partners," he explained.

"There were some difficulties at the beginning. Today we understand the system and the business environment in Belarus and sometimes it is even better than ours. Belarus is a wonderful place for us to advance to the Eastern market,” Frantisek Masopust said.

At present there are 123 enterprises with the Czech participation in Belarus, including 76 joint businesses and 47 foreign companies. There are also 18 offices of Czech companies in Belarus. "The projects implemented by these companies are very important for the country. These projects include the construction of a logistics center near Minsk with the help of the Czech capital, and the reconstruction of the Naftan oil refinery and many others,” Alexander Fedorchuk noted.

The Belarusian-Czech Business Forum is running in Minsk. Belarusian enterprises will hold talks with representatives of the 14 Czech companies in such areas as agriculture and forestry, production of complex technological installations for the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, banking and legal services, insurance.