Business news

HANOI, 9 December (BelTA) – Belarus suggests stepping up cooperation in petrochemical industry to Vietnam. Belarus would also like to participate in prospecting for and extracting mineral resources. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the relevant statement after negotiations with Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang on 9 December, BelTA has learned.

Alexander Lukashenko pointed out that Belarus-Vietnam trade turnover of $190 million is an insufficient figure considering the potentials of Belarus and Vietnam. The Belarusian leader noted that a number of contracts had already been signed during the current visit. They would help increase the volume of mutual trade. The Belarus President agreed with his Vietnamese counterpart that it is necessary to step up the level of the intergovernmental commission for the sake of raising the bilateral trade turnover to and over $0.5 billion within the next two years.

The Belarusian side suggested stepping up cooperation in petrochemical industry, automobile engineering, and in joint assembly enterprises in Vietnam. According to the Belarusian head of state, a good foundation has been created for that, bilateral documents have been signed as well as the agreement on the free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union and Vietnam.

Alexander Lukashenko stressed that Belarus is ready to take part in the surveying and extraction of mineral resources in Vietnam and is ready to supply the necessary equipment and machines for that.

Apart from that, the negotiations touched upon the possibility of getting more Vietnamese economy and science specialists trained in Belarusian universities. “We will do our best in order to traditionally support education standards in Vietnam by allowing future scientists, physicists, IT specialists and other professionals study at Belarusian universities,” assured the Belarusian leader.

According to the Belarus President, the sides talked at length about defense and security matters. “We absolutely support the opinion in favor of advancing this cooperation. There are no forbidden topics concerning defense industry matters and we are going to maintain this view from now on,” said Alexander Lukashenko.