Business news

16 Nov 2022

Belarus views Sudan as gateway to other African countries

MINSK, 16 November (BelTA) - Belarus has been actively developing relations with African countries in recent years, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sudan to Belarus Mohammed Omer Musa Ali on 16 November, BelTA has learned.

“This is not the first time you have been visiting the Parliament. You have already taken part in the opening of the ninth session of the House of Representatives. So once again I would like to wish you successful diplomatic work in Belarus. I am convinced that with your active involvement, such constructive friendly relations which we have established between the Republic of Belarus and Sudan will continue developing for the benefit of our peoples. Over the recent years Belarus has been actively developing its relations with the countries of Africa, where Sudan plays an important role. Moreover, I would say that Sudan is a gateway to other African states. In January 2017, the Belarusian president paid a visit to your country. The visit created a very fertile ground for the development of our cooperation. In autumn 2017, a parliamentary delegation also visited your country, and following that visit, a number of previously made agreements, a number of contracts were implemented. More than 100 Belarusian tractors were delivered to Sudan. There were also supplies of peanuts from Sudan to Belarus for our food processing enterprises. We also agreed at that time to supply grain storages worth about $70 million from Belarus to Sudan,” Vladimir Andreichenko said.

Then a series of meetings with Sudanese officials took place, the speaker said. “We discussed mineral production issues. We determined such a wide range of issues on which we were going to cooperate. Unfortunately, not all of them have been implemented to date. That is why during the meeting with you on 30 September 2022, the Belarusian president said that we should move forward. I think that during your visit to the regions of Belarus, you will be able to feel the potential of our country in economy, industry, agriculture, culture and tourism. You will also be able to determine together with us the priority areas on which we can continue our work,” the speaker of the House of Representatives said.

“We have a working group in the Parliament of the Republic of Belarus on cooperation with individual countries of North Africa. These are Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan. Therefore, in your diplomatic work you can always count on the assistance of Belarusian MPs. I am pleased to meet you and would like to hear your first impressions of the Republic of Belarus and the social, economic and domestic political situation in your country,” stressed Vladimir Andreichenko.

The parties are expected to discuss the development of inter-parliamentary contacts, cooperation between the legislative bodies of both countries on international platforms, the promotion of deeper Belarusian-Sudanese cooperation in trade, economic and humanitarian fields, as well as the implementation of the agreements reached during the visit of Chairman of the House of Representatives Vladimir Andreichenko to Sudan in 2017.