Opinions & Interviews

BUDAPEST, 27 November (BelTA) – Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov suggested making a greater use of Belarus’ potential to link Europe and Asia as he spoke at the Central Eastern European Countries and China 16+1 heads of government summit in Budapest on 27 November, BelTA has learned.

“Thanks to its geographical position, Belarus can become an integrating link in trade between the countries of the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, countries in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe,” Andrei Kobyakov noted.

The construction of the Silk Road economic zone presupposes the establishment of hubs for cooperation in industry, transport, communication, innovation and finance and information technology. Andrei Kobyakov noted that the establishment of the Great Stone industrial park in Belarus has already made a big impact on increasing cross-border traffic with Lithuania and Latvia.

Belarus hopes to become an important trade and logistics, manufacturing and technological hub on the Silk Road. Significant preferences for investors who come to the park envisage the development of new competencies in manufacturing, technologies, and management.

Andrei Kobyakov noted that the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park Great Stone is open to companies from China and other countries. Together with Chinese partners Belarus is doing its best to internationalize the park. Today the majority of the residents of the park are the companies from China. There are also residents with Austrian, American, German, Lithuanian, and Russian capital.

The 16+1 summit was initiated by China in 2012 to intensify and expand cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, and Estonia). Belarus took part in the previous summit in Riga as an observer.