Opinions & Interviews

Mikhail Myasnikovich remarked that a Belarusian-Myanmar intergovernmental commission works already and mutual trade in medications had been discussed during the talks in detail. Close attention was paid to cooperation in agriculture, in particular, the joint production of tractors and agricultural machines. According to the head of the upper chamber of the Belarus parliament, the Myanmar side voiced concrete proposals meant to facilitate the exploration of the Myanmar market by Belarusian companies. “Our delegation will visit the country soon in order to determine the model range that would be most suitable for Myanmar agriculture,” said Mikhail Myasnikovich.

In his words, the sides discussed the possible reclamation of new lands in Myanmar using Belarusian machines. If Belarusian prices are deemed acceptable and the machines are demonstrated in the field, a project to make tractors in Myanmar may be implemented. A similar project has been implemented in Cambodia earlier, noted Mikhail Myasnikovich.

Speaking about trade and economic cooperation, Mikhail Myasnikovich pointed out that Belarus-Myanmar trade is on the rise although the absolute figures are small. Belarus’ export prevails. In 2014 Belarus-Myanmar trade rose by 4.9 times as against 2013. In 2013 the bilateral trade rose by 50%. The sides discussed approaches to improving the trade and economic relations and creating the necessary legal base.

Apart from that, the sides discussed the need to develop humanitarian contacts and promote cooperation in education. The sides reached an agreement on establishing direct contacts between universities for the sake of training specialists for the Myanmar economy, explained the head of the upper chamber of the Belarus parliament.

According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, Belarus considers cooperation with Myanmar an important direction of its foreign policy in Southeast Asia. “We are interested in expanding political, trade, and economic contacts. There is no doubt it also applies to prospects of developing relations in education, science and technology,” he concluded.