Opinions & Interviews

The Prime Minister stated: “French companies have been paying attention to Belarus in the last few years. There are already joint projects in the area of automobile engineering, hotel business, and agriculture. Apart from that, a French company has supplied a tunnel boring machine for metro construction, which is an important project for us. Cooperation continues as part of the project to make Danone dairy products.”

Discussions are in progress to arrange a visit of representatives of French business circles to Belarus under the aegis of the major association of businessmen MEDEF. The visit could encourage more French companies to do business in Belarus.

Andrei Kobyakov pointed out that Belarusian-French relations blossomed during Dominique Gazuy’s stay in Belarus. “Since 2013 we have managed to implement a number of steps aimed at expanding bilateral cooperation. In particular, we’ve managed to noticeably upgrade the level of our mutual contacts. The visit of France President Francois Hollande to Belarus and the recent meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs are a testament to that,” explained Andrei Kobyakov.

A Belarusian-French commission on trade and economic cooperation has been established, with two sessions already over. A number of agreements have been prepared, including on tourism, environmental protection, and on studying French in Belarus.

“During your stay in Minsk we’ve managed to make some headway in establishing interaction between Belarus and the European Union. Most of the restrictive measures have been scrapped. Some serious headway has been secured in advancing cooperation with international financial organizations. The EBRD has recently published a new strategy for Belarus. The decision on the possibility of cooperation with the European Investment Bank has been made. The level of bilateral contacts has increased. The atmosphere between Minsk and Brussels has improved,” said Andrei Kobyakov.

The Ambassador of France to Belarus noted that her successor would continue working hard to bring Belarus and France closer to each other in political and economic matters.