Opinions & Interviews
Belarus shows interest in full cooperation with Georgia
MINSK, 23 August (BelTA) – Belarus is interested in deepening mutually beneficial cooperation with Georgia in all areas, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko said as he met with Georgia Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze on 23 August, BelTA has learned.
“Our principled position is to seek opportunities for boosting cooperation in all the areas that may benefit both Belarus and Georgia. MPs play an important role here. We have set up friendship groups. It should be noted that they operate informally. A roadmap has been developed to promote cooperation between the MPs. The document is currently considered by Georgia. I believe that MPs should also work harder as part of the inter-governmental commission on trade and economic cooperation as main issues are considered and settled there,” Vladimir Andreichenko said.
In his words, there are all the prerequisites for increasing bilateral trade. "A number of enterprises with Georgian capital work in Belarus, while our representations are present in your country. We are interested in increasing the supply of Georgian goods to Belarus. First of all, it is mineral water, vegetables, fruit, strong alcoholic beverages. There are enterprises in Belarus that bottle Georgian cognacs. We should go further in establishing joint ventures to process your products, vegetables, and fruit in Belarus,” the chairman of the House of Representatives said.
Vladimir Andreichenko also focused on the development of tourism between Belarus and Georgia. According to statistics, some 5,000 Belarusians visited Georgia in 2010. The figure reached 65,000 in 2018. “I believe we need to develop tourism not only to Georgia, but also to Belarus. This can be both educational and medical tourism. We have a well-developed healthcare sector. About 120 students from Georgia study in our medical institutions. We are ready to accept more students, including to the agricultural and economic institutions. Our higher educational institutions provide a good level of education which is recognized worldwide,” he stressed.
The chairman of the House of Representatives stated that in January the two countries celebrated 25 years of diplomatic relations. “We must admit that our good relations have much deeper roots. The relations are based on friendship, mutual understanding, and trust,” said Vladimir Andreichenko.
According to Mamuka Bakhtadze, Belarus is an important and reliable partner for Georgia. “As for economic relations, the official visits of the Belarusian president to Georgia in 2015 and 2018 gave a new impetus to their development. We have encouraging momentum in the field. I am confident that in the near future we will be able to double the trade between our countries. I would like to note that Belarusian products are very popular with our people. We enjoy good cooperation in other sectors of the economy, too. We view your experience in new technology and innovations as useful,” he added.
Speaking about the cooperation in tourism, Mamuka Bakhtadze said that when “there are strong and reliable relations between nations, it is always possible to build any models of economic cooperation.”
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