Business news

BREST, 11 September (BelTA) - Trade between Brest Oblast and Kazakhstan rose by 18% in January-July, Brest Oblast Governor Anatoly Lis said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Belarus Yermukhamet Yertysbayev in Brest on 11 September, BelTA has learned.

The trade between the Belarusian region and Kazakhstan amounted to $58.3 million in January-July 2018, which was up 18.6% as against the same period a year prior. Brest Oblast is home to seven enterprises with the Kazakh capital. According to the governor, regional ties have been gaining momentum. For example, Brest Oblast has a long-term cooperation agreement with the East Kazakhstan Region and Karaganda Region. Last year, Brest hosted a business delegation of Atyrau Region. “There are lots of avenues of cooperation. Trade is good. However, given the membership of Kazakhstan and Belarus in a number of integration groups, the potential of our cooperation is much higher,” Anatoly Lis said.

Almost every region of Belarus has strong ties with KazakhstanAmbassador Yermukhamet Yertysbayev noted with satisfaction. The diplomat recalled that the heads of state set a goal to raise the commodity trade up to $1 billion. “Last year it was $690 million. These are good figures, and I hope that they will be higher by the end of the year,” he said. For that the ambassador suggested transporting more transit cargoes from China through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus to Western Europe. Another promising area is the establishment of joint Belarusian-Kazakhstani enterprises. According to the diplomat, plans are in place to start assembling Belarusian engineering products such as MAZ and BelAZ vehciles, mining and quarry trucks, other equipment in Kazakhstan.

Topical issues of trade and economic cooperation will be high on the agenda of the 14th meeting of the Belarusian-Kazakhstan intergovernmental commission. At the request of the Kazakh side the meeting was postponed from September to November. The commission is expected to meet in Brest.

During a three-day visit to Brest Oblast the Kazakhstan ambassador is set to visit the Santa Bremor fish-processing company, Savushkin Product dairy, to meet with students of the Pushkin Brest State University, to visit the Brest Hero Fortress memorial and the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park.