Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 11 February (BelTA) – The economic cooperation between Belarus and Syria is lagging behind the level of political dialogue, Belarus’ Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei told a press conference in Damascus summing up the results of his visit to Syria, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

The minister pointed out that there is no discord between Belarus and Syria. The countries support each other in the international arena. However, the bilateral economic cooperation is lagging behind their political dialogue.

In this light, the countries agreed it is necessary to further strengthen the bilateral ties despite all the problems that they are currently facing. “We have many promising areas of cooperation. Belarus manufactures products that Syria is interested in, and Syria produces goods Belarus would like to buy,” Vladimir Makei noted.

The sides also agreed to draw up a list of priority cooperation areas and projects to be jointly implemented in the near future. They also decided to discuss the cooperation prospects during the next session of the Belarusian-Syrian intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation that will be held in Minsk. “The agenda of the session will include such issues as the possibility to export Belarus-made vehicles to Syria and set up assembling plants. Besides, we will talk over our cooperation in healthcare, education, and a number of other promising fields,” Vladimir Makei said.

He also mentioned that in the best times the trade between Belarus and Syria amounted to $85 million, but today it is less than half as high. “Our goal is not just to reach that previous level of trade, but to exceed it many times. The main thing is that we have political eagerness to develop our cooperation. We just need to agree on some particular projects that will help us expand and strengthen our ties, and this is exactly what we are going to do in the near future,” Vladimir Makei emphasized.