MINSK, 18 October (BelTA) – Belarus hopes to reach $1 billion in trade with Turkey by the end of 2017, Belarus Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said as he met with the Turkish delegation led by Minister of Development Lutfi Elvan on 18 October, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian government.
The parties discussed the Belarusian-Turkish cooperation in trade, industry and investment, and outlined plans for further development of cooperation in a number of areas of mutual interest.
Turkey is among Belarus’ important and promising economic partners. “Over the past 10 years the Belarusian-Turkish trade has gone up five times to exceed $800 million in 2016. We hope that our countries will be able to reach $1 billion by the end of this year,” Andrei Kobyakov said.
The Belarusian head of government stressed that Belarusian industrial companies show interest in setting up assembly plants in partnership with Turkish companies in Turkey and joint advancement of products to the markets of the region. “Two big Belarusian industrial companies – Gomselmash and Amkodor – have already been working with Turkish companies on setting up plants to assemble agricultural harvesters, construction, utilities and other special equipment in Turkey. We are currently searching for a partner in Turkey to set up a plant to assemble Belarusian tractors,” Andrei Kobyakov said.
The prime minister noted that Belarus is gearing up for a visit of Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in early February 2018.
Andrei Kobyakov also expressed hope that the analytical report “Turkey-Belarus: Cooperation Prospects” developed at the request of the Turkish Ministry of Development would help Turkish official and business circles to take a closer look at the prospects of cooperation with Belarus. “In turn we will also study the document and take into account its recommendations,” he said.
The Turkish minister of development is in Belarus on a visit on 17-18 October on Belarus’ invitation. The program of the visit includes talks with representatives of Belarusian Economy Ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Industry Ministry, a visit to the Great Stone Industrial Park, meetings with representatives of Turkish companies operating in Belarus.