Business news

MINSK, 11 April (BelTA) – Speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko has attended the first joint agricultural forum during his visit to Pakistan, BelTA learned from the press service of the House of Representatives.

Vladimir Andreichenko named an increase in mutual trade and joint processing plants, the exchange of advanced achievements in agrarian science, and the organization of joint training of specialists as the priorities of bilateral cooperation in the agro-industrial sector. He also expressed confidence that businessmen of Belarus and Pakistan would continue their fruitful dialogue during the traditional agricultural exhibition in Minsk in June 2017.

The speaker attributed that the improved business activity between the two countries to the agreements reached at the highest level in the past two years. Describing the potential of the domestic agricultural sector, he told the participants of the forum that the agro-industrial complex of Belarus is a well-balanced manufacturing system that includes agriculture, processing industry, agrarian services, scientific support and personnel training. The Speaker of the House of Representatives noted that the country is among the top 20 leaders in the size of arable lands per person. Large-commodity agricultural production accounts for more than 70% of the rural gross output. A lot has been done to strengthen the material and technical base of agricultural companies, modernize processing companies, Vladimir Andreichenko said. The country’s machine-building complex produces a wide range of up-to-date agricultural vehicles and equipment, including different types of tractors, grain and fodder harvesters, sowing and tillage equipment that do not yield to their foreign analogues.

The forum featured a presentation of the farming and technological potentials of Belarus and Pakistan, Pakistan’s Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, and the opportunities of the business circles of the two countries. Memorandums of understanding and cooperation were signed between the Belarusian State Agrarian Technical University and the University of Agriculture Faisalabad. The memorandum of understanding and cooperation was concluded between Gomselmash and Pakistan’s Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited. Representatives of the Pakistani and Belarusian companies held business talks as part of the forum.

Vladimir Andreichenko met with Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives also held talks with Pakistan’s Minister of Planning, Development and Reform Ahsal Iqbal. The parties reaffirmed the interest in joint industrial projects and also those related to housing construction, agriculture, and human potential development. Ahsal Iqbal also told the Belarusian delegation about the Chinese-Pakistani economic corridor construction project which implementation is underway.

The issues of bilateral cooperation in the agro-industrial complex were discussed at a meeting between the speaker and representatives of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited. Vladimir Andreichenko thanked the Pakistani bank for assistance in the organization of the first Belarusian-Pakistani agricultural forum. Pakistani representatives stressed that the Pakistani market opens up huge possibilities for Belarusian producers in both advancing their products and developing mutually beneficial cooperation in the economic sector.