Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 10 July (BelTA) – Belarus and Netherlands intend to continue their vigorous political dialogue, BelTA learned from Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei during the opening ceremony of the office of the Embassy of Netherlands in Minsk.

Vladimir Makei underlined that the office of the embassy is opened in the year of the 25^th anniversary of Belarus-Netherlands diplomatic relations. The office will open a new page in the history of the bilateral relations. “We highly appreciate decisions made by the Netherlands leadership. We believe that in the period of the actively advancing Belarus-EU dialogue it will help our Dutch colleagues to get first-hand information about the situation in Belarus, about the development of the society and the state, and about what is going on in our region as a whole,” noted Vladimir Makei. “We have agreed that we should continue the emerging active political dialogue between our countries, first of all, between the ministries of foreign affairs. But we should not limit it only to the ministries of foreign affairs. We should promote the dialogue between other state institutions and between the civil societies and the business communities.”

Belarus and Netherlands advance trade and economic cooperation rather vigorously. Netherlands has always been one of Belarus’ top ten trade, economic, and investment partners. “But it does not mean we should be satisfied with what we have. We are negotiating ways to step up the trade and economic cooperation. There are many successful examples of our cooperation and the successful implementation of joint projects in Belarus. In Belarus there are about 100 joint ventures with a share of Dutch capital,” stated Vladimir Makei.

The Belarusian minister of foreign affairs was convinced that the office of the Embassy of Netherlands in Belarus will bring about even more opportunities for advancing cooperation. “I would like to assure our Dutch colleagues that they will always enjoy support and assistance of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he added.