Business news

MINSK, 23 March (BelTA) – The first Belarusian-Spanish business forum will take place in Minsk on 24-25 March, representatives of the Embassy of Belarus in France told BelTA. The embassy also serves as the Belarusian diplomatic mission to Spain on concurrent basis.

The forum is expected to gather representatives of 25 Spanish companies from Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Marbella and other cities of Spain. The companies specialize in food industry and processing industry, production sector and civil engineering, information technologies, legal and education services. The forum has been arranged upon the initiative of the Belarusian embassy and with assistance of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Madrid, the association of businessmen of Valencia, the association for fostering the development of relations between Spain, Russia, and other CIS states.

The forum will include a business matchmaking session in the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Bilateral meetings of Belarusian and Spanish businessmen will take place. Spanish partners will visit Belarusian enterprises, will hold negotiations with representatives of Belarusian ministries, concerns, municipal government agencies. According to representatives of the Embassy of Belarus in France, Spanish companies are interested in advancing cooperation with Belarusian partners in the spheres of energy industry, transport agriculture, civil engineering, electronics, city development and infrastructure, tourism, consulting services, real estate and other areas.

Results of the forum will be discussed during the forthcoming regular round of consultations between the ministries of foreign affairs of Belarus and Spain in Minsk in H1 2015.

The source added that since 2013 in Spain the embassy has arranged several presentations of export opportunities of trade, economic, and investment cooperation with Belarus. Representatives of over 150 Spanish companies attended the presentations. One of the factors contributing to the organization of the first Belarusian-Spanish business forum was the visit of the Belarusian economy minister and the deputy finance minister to Spain in June 2014. During the visit negotiations were held with the minister of foreign affairs and the state secretary for trade of Spain and with top executives of Spanish companies. One of the results of the visit was the signing of a memorandum between the Belarusian export and import insurance company Eximgarant of Belarus and the Spanish export credit insurance company CESCE, BelTA has been told.