Business news

MINSK, 20 October (BelTA) - Latvia expects to cooperate with Belarus in the Silk Road project, Director of the Latvia Investment and Development Agency Andris Ozols told media, BelTA has learned.

"We would like to see Belarus and Latvia become important parts of the new Silk Road. This is one of the key topics of our cooperation,” said Andris Ozols. According to him, the countries have the necessary infrastructure to participate in this project. "This is also a political job: to establish the so-called green corridors for the abolition of administrative, customs and other kinds of obstacles," Andris Ozols said.

Speaking about the possibility of Belarus' accession to the World Tourism Organization, Andris Ozols said that the accession to the organization implies the predictable economic behavior of the country. "When a country shows the equal attitude towards international trade, when there are no lobbied tariffs, then there are economic benefits. In short, we think that the accession to the WTO will stimulate a large flow of international trade and investment,” he added.

The Days of Latvia which opened in Belarus on 30 October will last till 20November.

Latvia-Belarus trade in goods and services totaled €565.4 million in 2014. Belarus is Latvia’s 12^th biggest partner in foreign trade. The export of goods and services to Belarus made up €212 million (1.5% of Latvia’s total export). Latvia’s import of Belarusian products reached €353.5 million (2.4%). In terms of capital investment in Latvia, Belarus was 22^nd with total investment at €21.4 million and 2,215 enterprises as of 1 October 2015. Latvia’s major exports to Belarus are products of the chemical and food industries, machinery and equipment, transportation services (air, road), travel and commercial services (construction, information, computer, communication).