Opinions & Interviews

VIENNA, 24 May (BelTA) – The interest of European business in Belarus has increased significantly recently, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Mikhnevich told reporters on the sidelines of the Belarusian-European Investment Forum on 24 May, BelTA has learned.

“The European business has always been interested in Belarus because of its geographic location. Besides, Belarus is a European country, it is easy to deal with us, we understand each other very well. Therefore, there was an interest, and it has increased significantly now because there are no sanctions. Businessmen are not afraid of working with Belarus. There are many calls to the MFA, many trips,” Alexander Mikhnevich said.

In his words, Belarus is trying to solve two tasks at the forum. The first one is to present interesting projects which could be implemented in bilateral cooperation in various industries of the national economy. “At the same time, we tell Europeans that it does not matter what they will produce in Belarus. If they fulfill certain requirements, there will be no problems with the delivery of products to Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The Eurasian Economic Union unites 170 million people, it is the fifth largest economy in the world. And they realize it,” Alexander Mikhnevich said.

The second issue on the agenda, according to him, is the ‘integration of integrations’. “After beautiful words we must cut to the chase. It is difficult roadmap. The earlier we will start to work, the sooner we will accomplish the goal,” the first deputy minister said.

The Vienna Forum: Promoting EU Investments in Belarus is held in Austria’s capital city on 24 May. The event is organized by the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry together with the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the instruction of Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov. Partaking in the event are more than 120 people. The forum in attended by businessmen from Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Latvia, Hungary, Slovakia. Partaking in the forum are President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Christoph Leitl, representatives of the European Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, etc.