Business news

BISHKEK, 7 June (BelTA) – Belarus and Kyrgyzstan hope to restore their mutual trade level, Belarus’ Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said as he met with his Kyrgyz counterpart Sooronbay Jeenbekov on the sidelines of the CIS Heads of Government Council meeting in Kyrgyzstan on 7 June, BelTA has learned.

“Today we have an opportunity to discuss our bilateral trade and economic cooperation. It has a relatively solid foundation. However, recently, due to various reasons, first of all, those related to a difficult economic situation in the CIS, the mutual trade between Belarus and Kyrgyzstan has reduced. I think today we will dedicate some time to the areas where we can make progress,” noted Andrei Kobyakov.

He expressed hope that Belarus and Kyrgyzstan would restore their mutual trade level and even exceed it. “We are together in the Eurasian Economic Union. We are happy to see that Kyrgyzstan has joined it. These advantages should be used to the maximum,” the Belarusian head of government said.

Sooronbay Jeenbekov, for his part, thanked Andrei Kobyakov for his participation in the meeting and expressed hope for intensification of trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and Kyrgyzstan.

The meeting of the CIS Heads of Government Council will take place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on 7 June. The agenda of the meeting includes more than 10 issues that cover a wide range of important cooperation areas. Special attention will be attached to the development of trade and economic cooperation, joint work in the energy and healthcare sectors, enhancement of food security and the implementation of the innovative cooperation program. Participants of the meeting will take stock of the progress made in the implementation of the interstate innovative cooperation program in 2015 and the action plan for 2015-2016 on the implementation of the interstate innovative cooperation program (both the documents are valid through 2020). Participants of the meeting are expected to sign a protocol between the member states of the CIS Free Trade Zone Agreement (of 18 October 2011) on the regulation of public procurement, the convention to preserve agro biodiversity. They are also set to approve the CIS population health strategy, sign the agreements on sharing information about accidents at power facilities, information cooperation on the transportation of radioactive sources, and adopt the concept of cooperation in chemical industry.