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MINSK, 24 July (BelTA) – Ways to invigorate trade, economic, and investment relations were discussed as Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei visited Slovenia. The visit was timed to the 25^th anniversary since the establishment of Belarus-Slovenia diplomatic relations, the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told BelTA.

Vladimir Makei met with Slovenia President Borut Pahor, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia Karl Erjavec, Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovic, and representatives of major Slovenian private companies.

Vladimir Makei and Karl Erjavec discussed the current state and prospects of advancing Belarusian-Slovenian relations, Belarus’ interaction with Slovenia within the framework of international organizations, the Belarus-EU dialogue, and cooperation between the two countries in the course of Belarus’ presidency in the Central European Initiative. The invigoration of trade, economic, and investment ties between Belarus and Slovenia was in focus.

Innovations, telecommunications, civil engineering and power engineering, agriculture and processing of food products, mechanical engineering and pharmaceutics were mentioned as priority spheres for bolstering the relations. The expansion of credit, investment, and banking cooperation was discussed as well as the expansion of manufacturing cooperation. An agreement was reached on stepping up efforts to establish cooperation between regions of the two countries, in particular, between the administrations of the two capital cities.

It was stressed that the historically close relations and the traditionally warm attitudes of the two nations towards each other represent the solid foundation for building long-term mutually beneficial cooperation.

A program on cooperation between the Belarusian and Slovenian ministries of foreign affairs was signed as a result of the talks. The program lists a number of concrete bilateral measures and events and represents kind of a roadmap, which is designed to guide the advancement of relations between the two ministries in the near future.

Vladimir Makei and Karl Erjavec also exchanged congratulatory notes on the occasion of the 25^th anniversary since the diplomatic relations were established. In his note Vladimir Makei stressed that the spectrum of mutual interests and the dialogue between the two countries grow broader every year.

Apart from that, Vladimir Makei met with Slovenia President Borut Pahor. The sides discussed the advancement of economic, investment, humanitarian, and cultural relations. The need to expand and upgrade the political dialogue between Belarus and Slovenia was stressed. The situation in the region and international security problems were discussed. Close attention was paid to the development of interaction between Belarus and the European Union.

During the meeting with Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovic Vladimir Makei discussed prospects of establishing direct cooperation between the capital cities. The discussion was focused not only on the development of trade and economic cooperation but also on sharing the best practices with regard to municipal services. Cultural and humanitarian components were mentioned. Vladimir Makei was grateful that the Ljubljana library had temporarily lent the original book Little Travel Book by Francysk Skaryna for display purposes to the National Library of Belarus. The high potential for cooperation in education was also noted.

Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei also met with representatives of major Slovenian private companies, which are interested in advancing cooperation with Belarus. Prospects of implementing joint projects, the establishment of joint enterprises, and penetration of third-country markets were discussed.