Opinions & Interviews

Omani business invited to Belarus

Vladimir Koltovich. An archive photo

MINSK, 10 April (BelTA) – Belarus is interested in developing bilateral relations with Oman and seeing Omani business coming to Belarus in particular, Belarus’ Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Vladimir Koltovich said during the third meeting of the Belarus-Oman Business Cooperation Council in Minsk on 10 April, BelTA has learned.

The minister said that the mutual trade between the two states reduced from $4 million in 2017 to $2.3 million in 2018. “We, however, remain fully committed to continue cooperation and restore our positions. We are interested in twofold traffic and in the arrival of Omani business in Belarus in particular,” Vladimir Koltovich said.

The minister of antimonopoly regulation and trade noted that Belarus had created favorable conditions for investing, guaranteed protection of private property, investments and the right to repatriation of profits. “In Belarus there are no obstacles for implementation of any projects,” the minister stressed.

In turn, Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vladimir Ulakhovich expressed confidence that, despite the modest trade turnover, the two countries still have an untapped potential for cooperation. “We have developed constructive relations both in business and at the interstate level. We need to transform this into concrete projects,” he said.

According to the chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, last year Belarus supplied mostly milk, cream and potash fertilizers to Oman. However, given the size of Oman's import portfolio and its plans to diversify economy, Belarus can be an interesting partner to the country, Vladimir Ulakhovich said. First of all, according to him, the countries can cooperate in the supply of industrial products and halal food. Another area of cooperation, which partners from Oman suggest today, is the development of logistics services.

Investment remains high on the agenda as well. “The Omani delegation has comprised representatives of a company which is interested in the development of the IT sector,” Vladimir Ulakhovich said.

According to Board Member of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry Raed Al Shehhi, Oman shows interest in Belarusian machinery and equipment, including for the transport sector and agriculture. The major requirement is for Belarusian prices to be competitive in comparison with the prices of other European countries.

The representative of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry also said that a big logistics center is under development in Oman. The center will be responsible for the imports (including from Belarus, Russia and a number of other countries) and their further distribution in the region.

Minsk is hosting the third meeting of the Belarus-Oman Business Cooperation Council. The meeting is held by the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Participants of the meeting are expected to consider options to boost the Belarus-Oman business cooperation, prospects for the implementation of investment projects and other issues of bilateral cooperation. The event will feature presentations of business climate in Belarus and Oman, and B2B talks between Belarusian and Omani companies.

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