Opinions & Interviews

Belarus, Ukraine have big business-interregional cooperation potential

ZHITOMIR, 3 October (BelTA) – There is a big potential for business and interregional cooperation between Belarus and Ukraine, Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vladimir Ulakhovich said as he spoke at the 8th session of the Ukrainian-Belarusian advisory council on business cooperation, underway in Zhitomir as part of the 2nd Forum of Regions of Belarus and Ukraine, BelTA has learned.

According to Vladimir Ulakhovich, no big national project can be implemented without the participation of business. He emphasized a huge role of interregional cooperation in the development of relations between the two countries. “Regional support and business are a unique harmony. Regional cooperation is the basis of interstate relations. Regions have their own resources, projects, free trade zones. It is important that regional cooperation develops from bottom to top,” he said.

According to the BelCCI chairman, it is necessary to make a serious step forward despite current positive momentum. There is a big interest in cooperation from both the sides. “We have state support. To develop regional cooperation we need mutually beneficial projects in logistics, transport corridors. We share a critical interest in it. This also means added value that we can contribute to the development of long-term cooperation between the two states,” he said.

Vladimir Ulakhovich also spoke in favor of further development of joint projects in technology and industrial cooperation. “This is a long-term outlook. Bilateral trade will remain. Such projects, however, have a great future,” he said.

“Do we have any barriers? Of course, we do. Our economic laws develop differently a bit. This, however, does not mean that we are moving in different directions. On the contrary, we are going along the same road and rely on the international trade rules universal for all the states. I think we need to openly discuss these barriers and remove them gradually,” the BelCCI chairman said.

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