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Lukashenko urges to find ways to cooperate with EU, to develop ties with remote countries
MINSK, 22 July (BelTA) – Russia and China are traditional partners of Belarus, but we need to find ways to cooperate with the European Union countries as well, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting to discuss the development of the Belarusian manufacturing industry, BelTA has learned.
“Our main two partners are Russia and China. These are our traditional partners. They are our 'anchor'. We have anchored. If someone thinks that ‘we will leave Russia and China and will be welcomed with open arms tomorrow’, they are mistaken. Indeed, we are a small export economy. But we need to understand that this is billions of dollars. The competition is serious, and our goods need to stand this competition everywhere. Therefore, Russia and China, especially Russia, is our traditional market. Economy is at the heart of everything,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.
The head of state noted that Belarus has been successfully developing relations with other friendly countries, and have not lost contacts with the European Union. “The EU is our neighbor. We need to find ways to cooperate with them. If they need to buy something and we need to sell it on their market, it is a mutually beneficial interest,” the president pointed out. “No matter how hard politicians try to build barriers, business always finds ways to break into certain markets."
During the meeting, Aleksandr Lukashenko dwelt in detail on cooperation with the geographically distant countries in Asia, Africa, South and Latin America. "We agreed not to put all eggs in one basket. The more baskets, the better. Hence the focus on geographically distant countries," he recalled.
The head of state stressed that today no one disputes that the future belongs to Africa. Belarus has several anchor points on this continent: Zimbabwe and Mozambique in the south. "They know us, they appreciate us and are ready to work with us," the president said.
Belarus also has partners on the west coast of Africa, for example, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria. Not so long ago, by the way, Aleksandr Lukashenko held a meeting with the First Lady of Nigeria. This country is very interested in developing relations with Belarus.
"We traditionally have excellent relations with Egypt and Algeria," the head of state said as he spoke about partners in the northern part of Africa.
Belarus is well known in the Middle East, Asia and in other regions. Thus, trade and economic ties with Latin American countries have been resumed. Recently, a government delegation of Belarus visited Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. "It's good that we have done it. The attitude towards us there is not bad," the president said. “We need to step up efforts to develop cooperation with Brazil. This is a huge country, politically influential, and they need what we want to sell."
Aleksandr Lukashenko also noted that Belarus' accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization opens up unique opportunities for promoting Belarus-made engineering goods to the SCO countries. "We need to tap into these opportunities," the head of state demanded. "This is an additional gateway to these countries."
In addition to direct sale of industrial products, the president separately touched upon maintenance centers and personnel training. Without this, he stressed, it is impossible to build long-term economic ties. "Training and maintenance centers, then localization and setting up our own production facilities is a unique opportunity to come to distant markets seriously and for a long time. Moreover, they have something to offer Belarus," Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
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