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France keen to cooperate with Belarus in latest technologies
MINSK, 16 April (BelTA) – France is keen to develop cooperation with Belarus in a number of areas, including latest technologies, Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Mikhail Myasnikovich said as he met with a French parliamentary delegation in Minsk on 16 April, BelTA has learned.
Charles Guene, Deputy Chairman of the Finance Commission of the French Senate, chairman of the France-Belarus friendship group, noted that France has an interest in a number of areas in terms of cooperation with Belarus. These include the forest industry and everything associated with it, tourism. The French MPs also proposed to discuss the interaction in latest technologies. As an example, Charles Guene cited artificial intelligence, digital technology.
Mikhail Myasnikovich welcomed the fact that the Belarusian-French relations have significantly intensified in recent years. This also applies to political contacts, inter-parliamentary dialogue and economic cooperation. He expressed confidence that during the visit to Minsk the delegation will have an opportunity to “discuss current things, new issues, interesting projects”. He expects that the visit of the French parliamentary delegation which is running on 15-16 April will be a success.
During the negotiations, Mikhail Myasnikovich invited the French parliamentarians to discuss issues related to mutual support in international organizations, including the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Belarus is preparing a draft resolution on science, technology and innovations for the OSCE PA summer session. The speaker of the Council of the Republic expressed the hope that French MPs would support the Belarusian initiatives.
The parties discussed the development of twinning relations and cooperation between cities and regions of the two countries. Mikhail Myasnikovich suggested a forum of twin cities as a promising format of cooperation.
In 2018, the bilateral trade went up by 9%. Belarus’ export grew more than 12%. Positive trend remains this year as well. “This shows that business has been gradually developing relations raising them to the level of political contacts between the parliaments of the two countries,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said.
The working group on cooperation with France at the Council of the Republic and the France-Belarus friendship group at the Senate of France were set up in 2018.
The groups intend to expand cooperation between the twin cities of Belarus and France, to establish direct business contacts, develop bilateral relations in investment, agricultural, environmental and other areas.
While in Belarus, the French parliamentary delegation is expected to meet with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Constitutional Court, and the Hi-Tech Park. The French MPs will also visit BelAZ, meet with the local authorities of Minsk Oblast and Grodno Oblast.
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