Business news

MINSK, 19 July (BelTA) - Belarus is ready to intensify trade and economic cooperation with Latvia, Belarus Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said as he met with Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkevics in Minsk on 19 July, BelTA has learned.

“For us Latvia is traditionally the most important trading and economic partner, despite the fact that lately there has been a slight slowdown in the pace of economic cooperation. However, as regards new enterprises, investment projects, the situation is not bad: almost a thousand enterprises with the Latvian participation have been registered in Belarus. In Latvia the number of companies with the Belarusian capital exceeded 2,000. We have all the preconditions for our trade and economic cooperation to develop successfully,” Andrei Kobyakov said.

The strategic area of cooperation is transport and logistics, the prime minister noted. “We very much hope that the country will be able to use its most important transit potential as transport routes from North to South and from West to East cross our country,” he said.

Cooperation in the field of woodworking, food industry, pharmaceuticals, and services seems promising, too. In addition, the Latvian partners can use the opportunities provided in the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park Great Stone.

In January-May 2017, the trade between Belarus and Latvia increased by 5.1% as compared to the same period of last year to total $170.3 million. Exports amounted to $136.2 million (an increase of 3.2%), imports came at $34.1 million (an increase of 13.5%). Belarus had a $102.1 million surplus in trade with Latvia.