Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 25 August (BelTA) – The potential of Belarus-Iran economic relations is still untapped, Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Viktor Guminsky said as he met with head of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly friendship group with the National Assembly of Belarus Ali Kaidi on 25 August, BelTA informs.

Viktor Guminsky expressed confidence that this year’s visit of Iran’s parliamentary delegation would promote further development of comprehensive cooperation. “Despite the policy of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran from the United States and western countries (what concerns your peaceful nuclear program), we have preserved friendly relations at every level. Your visit shows that we continue developing these relations,” he said. “The potential of the Belarusian-Iranian cooperation is still hugely untapped,” the Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives is confident. In this respect he believes the focus should be placed on trade and economic cooperation and the increase of bilateral trade.

In turn, Ali Kaidi stressed that both the parliament and the government of Iran are interested in strengthening cooperation with Belarus. In his words, Belarus takes a special place in Iran’s foreign policy. “We view your country as a friendly state and trust you. There are plenty of opportunities that we should make use of and there are no obstacles to develop relations between our countries,” he said.

In 2010-2012 and 2014 the trade with Iran exceeded $100 million. A number of Iranian companies are engaged in the implementation of investment projects in Belarus (the construction of the multipurpose hotel and business center Minsk Magnet, the transport and logistics center Prilesie in FEZ Minsk, the multipurpose public and business center Chervensky and other projects).

Belarus and Iran closely cooperate at the parliamentary level and have groups of inter-parliamentary cooperation. There is also a memorandum of cooperation between the National Assembly of Belarus and the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran. The two countries interact in scientific personnel training, expand cooperation forms in the implementation of joint scientific projects in medicine, education, nano and bio-technologies.