Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 9 December (BelTA) - The visit of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to Vietnam lays a solid foundation for doubling the trade between the two countries, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei told reporters, BelTA has learned.

"The visit of the Belarus President to Vietnam provides a serious basis for fulfilling an agreement to double the trade between our countries in the next two years," Vladimir Makei said.

During the visit the parties signed more than a dozen intergovernmental agreements and contracts. Meetings were substantive. If there were new proposals, the decisions on many were taken immediately. For example, the issue was raised whether the two countries were going to liberalize the visa regime for the sake of more active development of business, tourism. On the instructions of Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian side will promptly examine this issue and make concrete proposals in the near future. This is how the cooperation goes in all areas, the Minister said.

Thanks to cooperation with Vietnam, Belarus will be able to expand its relations with the ASEAN region. Through the establishment of joint ventures and projects with Vietnam Belarus can establish cooperation with third countries in the ASEAN, Vladimir Makei said. The head of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the idea of integration of integrations which the Belarusian President voiced earlier is still relevant today. The free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union is being implemented. The agreement will soon be sent to the Belarusian Parliament for ratification. This agreement will be coupled with a bilateral document which will be completed soon. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thanks to it the two countries will be able to increase trade several times.