News & Events in Belarus

ROME, 20 May (BelTA) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko encourages the Italian business to invest more in Belarus. He made the statement during a short conversation with Cristiano Cottafavi, the Director of the Diplomatic Protocol Department at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, at the airport of Rome on 20 May, BelTA has learned.

The President wanted to know what Italy is doing to overcome the consequences of the global economic crisis. “I should say that Italy begins to revive from the crisis. I hope that it will have a positive impact on our economic relations,” the representative of Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

“We invite you to Belarus. We can put a new lease of life into our agreements on the establishment of an industrial zone in Brest,” Alexander Lukashenko said. “When I visit other countries, I always offer to begin from small projects. I will personally supervise two or three projects. I will monitor the progress. If you like it, you can put forward more ideas.”

“In my opinion, if a businessman wants to develop a project, he takes the responsibility and knows where he sells his products. We will benefit from their presence in our country, they will create new jobs and pay taxes,” the Belarusian leader added.

Cristiano Cottafavi, in turn, pointed out the resolution to enhance bilateral relations. “It means that we need to launch these two or three projects in the industries of mutual interest,” he said.

The representative of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that at the session of the Belarusian-Italian intergovernmental commission which was held in Minsk in February the sides expressed mutual interest in setting up the so-called business incubator in Brest which will help Italian companies implement start-up projects.

After the arrival the President also had a short conversation with papal legate, Vatican's Secretary of Protocol Guillermo Karcher.