Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 27 April (BelTA) – Belarus and Egypt are connected by multipurpose and large-scale cooperation, BelTA learned from Vladimir Ulakhovich, Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, before the Belarusian-Egyptian business meeting began on 27 April.

“Belarus and Egypt enjoy multipurpose and large-scale cooperation. Cooperation is now on the rise and there is a big potential,” noted Vladimir Ulakhovich. He stressed that although Egypt has always been an important partner for Belarus, the country is being re-explored since some of the trade and economic links were lost in the last few years. “We saw a breakthrough last year when both export and the trade balance soared by 150%. Today the figure may not be as impressive as we would like — $156 million as trade balance and $134 million as Belarusian export,” stated the official. He reminded that the implementation of two large-scale projects — the assembly-based production of components for MAZ trucks and the establishment of two enterprises to assemble MTZ vehicles — began in 2014.

Vladimir Ulakhovich said that heads of major Egyptian companies that represent all the sectors of the economy had come to Minsk. “They are interested in cooperation in mechanical engineering and agriculture. Tourism is traditionally represented. The composition of the delegation reflects the profile of the Egyptian economy,” he stated.

In turn, Chairman of the Egyptian Council of Sustainable Development Moataz Raslan remarked that Egypt is interested in Belarus and participants of the business meeting had positive expectations regarding further cooperation. “We will focus on chemical industry (fertilizers) and agriculture (dairy products). The potential is huge,” he remarked.