Business news

MINSK, 30 August (BelTA) – Belarus is interested in the arrival of Finnish companies in the spheres of robot technology and petrochemical industry. The statement was made by Chairman of the International Affairs and National Security Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Sergei Rakhmanov on 30 August after negotiations with a delegation of the Finnish parliament, BelTA has learned. The delegation was led by Wille Rydman, chairman of the parliamentary group on friendship with Belarus, member of the National Coalition Party.

Sergei Rakhmanov noted that the number of companies with a share of Finnish capital, which are registered in Belarus, is expected to rise soon. “First of all, we would like to draw attention to microelectronics, robot technology, bio- and additive technologies, petrochemical industry, and modern woodworking industry,” said the MP.

Apart from that, plans have been made to step up cooperation in education and science. Sergei Rakhmanov explained that Finland has built a network system to enable interaction among Finnish universities and between Finnish universities, the private sector, and the state administration system. The resulting clusters have become growth points for major internationally recognized corporations. “This experience is very positive. We will try to interact with Finland, including by creating networking university structures between the countries,” said Sergei Rakhmanov.

Sergei Rakhmanov stressed that Belarus would like to borrow Finland’s best practices since the country is viewed as a global leader in the area of economy, innovations, modern technologies, the state administration system, science, and education. In turn, Wille Rydman noted that Finnish companies are interested in expanding their presence in Belarus. A serious increase in the trade turnover is a case in point. The MP was confident that the positive trend would last.

In January-June 2018 Belarus-Finland trade exceeded $65 million, 111.9% as against the same period of last year. As of early 2018 Belarus had 24 registered organizations with a share of Finnish capital, including seven joint ventures.