Opinions & Interviews

Belarus, Poland to focus on investment cooperation

MINSK, 18 February (BelTA) – Belarus and Poland have chosen investment cooperation as the priority of bilateral relations, Chairman of the Council of the Republic Mikhail Myasnikovich said as he reviewed the visit of the Belarusian parliamentary delegation to Poland in an interview with the ONT TV channel on 17 February, BelTA has learned.

At the meeting with Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki, Mikhail Myasnikovich discussed a possibility to expand bilateral trade. In 2018 it rose by 5.3% over the previous year. The parties agreed that cooperation in goods does not promise great prospects any more, although this kind of trade is still important and relevant. “Investment cooperation will be given a bigger focus. We discussed a great number of projects and concluded that we need to send a positive message to the business community (first of all, this will be done by the Polish side), to encourage more Polish businesses to come to Belarus,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said. Top on the agenda of the meeting was also cooperation in power engineering. The parties reached an agreement to resume the work of a corresponding cooperation group.

Mikhail Myasnikovich raised a question of building a U.S. Army base dubbed ‘Fort Trump’ in Poland. “The Polish side responded in a rather constructive way. They assured, both at the level of the foreign minister and the president, that this should not cause the escalation of tensions. The Polish side, I believe, heard our concerns. This matter will be discussed at the level of the defense ministries and the foreign ministries,” Mikhail Myasnikovich noted.

The parties discussed political contacts. “The Polish side thinks much of the contribution of the Belarusian leadership to the Minsk agreements and pledged support to Belarus in international platforms,” the speaker noted.

Apart from that, Mikhail Myasnikovich mentioned the social security agreement signed during the delegation’s visit to Warsaw. The document regulates many issues, including years of pensionable service, unemployment benefits. The speaker called this agreement a very important document that will serve the interests of ordinary people.

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