Business news

MOGILEV, 22 May (BelTA) - The Chinese Corporation SUMEC intends to invest in the flax industry in Mogilev Oblast. Such an agreement was reached during a meeting between Chairman of the Mogilev Oblast Executive Committee Vladimir Domanevsky and SUMEC Corporation delegation led by Wu Weifeng, Assistant General Manager of SUMEC Textile, BelTA has learned.

SUMEC Corporation is interested in the development of raw-materials base, increasing the production of flax fiber in Mogilev Oblast and its processing. OAO Shklov Linen Mill was chosen as the base enterprise. The Chinese side got familiar with this company and its capabilities earlier.

The governor proposed to draw up a step-by-step strategy and start with the signing of an investment contract which would stipulate all conditions of cooperation and responsibilities of the parties. “We need to designate the land plots for flax cultivation in the areas where this crop grows well and start tilling the land in the autumn,” Vladimir Domanevsky noted. He informed that last year Mogilev Oblast had a good harvest of flax and that the region has good stocks of elite seeds for expanding the acreage.

For his part, Wu Weifeng, noted that the corporation is willing to invest in the flax cultivation because it believes this project is very promising and mutually beneficial. Belarusian flax fiber and linen products are in high demand in China. He gave Vladimir Domanevsky a certificate of the purchase of the equipment for the Shklov Linen Mill as evidence that the company is serious about the project.

The sides also discussed a wide range of areas of cooperation in the future. The parties are exploring the projects to set up a large duck down factory in Mogilev Oblast, to supply dairy and meat products, alcohol beverages to China.

Tourism is an important avenue of cooperation. According to Wu Weifeng, many senior Chinese citizens are active and passionate about travel. Meanwhile Belarus meets the preferences of Chinese tourists: it has beautiful nature, good tourist infrastructure, friendly and hospitable people. Plans are in place to send a group of tourists to Belarus soon to get acquainted with the sights, traditions and culture of the country and to recuperate in local health resorts.

Vladimir Domanevsky invited SUMEC Corporation to build up a health resort in Mogilev Oblast taking into account the Chinese traditions and national cuisine. The parties also agreed to work out a similar project in China: to open a Belarusian cuisine restaurant which will be a kind of platform for advertising and promoting the Belarusian food products in the Chinese market. The parties are set to designate the travel agencies that will study the details of the cooperation and target tourist groups.

“We see great prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation with China. This is evidenced by the cooperation agreements signed at the interregional level and positive trade growth. China accounts for 8% of Mogilev Oblast’s foreign trade outside the CIS. Exports of Mogilev Oblast to China more than doubled in 2017. We therefore hope that the agreements reached today will materialize into long-term and mutually advantageous projects,” Vladimir Domanevsky noted.

On 21 May Chinese businessmen visited the towns of Krichev and Kostyukovichi to get familiar with the local cement producing facilities. On 22 May they plan to visit the region’s health resorts and see the investment sites of Chausy. On 23 May the Chinese delegation is set to travel to Bobruisk to see the city’s biggest companies.

SUMEC Group Corporation focuses on three fields such as trade and service, engineering contracting, and investment and development. The company trades in a wide range of goods, including gardening instruments, electric tools, high pressure washers, power generation equipment, garment, household textiles, clothes, household textiles, automobile parts, electromechanical equipment, steel, mineral products and coal.