Business news

MINSK, 3 March (BelTA) – The Belarusian-Italian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation will meet in January 2016, Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Yelena Kupchina told media after the Belarusian-Italian ministerial consultations on 3 March, BelTA has learned.

Yelena Kupchina pointed out a considerable increase in trade between the two countries and expressed confidence that the countries had a great potential in this area. “We decided on January 2016 as the date of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation,” she said.

According to the official, Italy is an important trade and economic partner for Belarus. Last year the bilateral trade hit the record-high $2.2 billion. “This is a good figure. The Belarusian export to Italy has substantially increased, by 12% to exceed $1 billion. However, we have a much bigger potential that we should exploit,” Yelena Kupchina is confident.

Another issue discussed at the ministerial consultations on 3 March was related to the development of the Italian industrial cluster at the free economic zone Brest. “We expect a delegation of businessmen from Italy with visits to Minsk and Brest and hope it will contribute to the preparation for the meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation,” the Deputy Minister said.

In turn, Deputy Foreign Minister and International Cooperation of Italy Benedetto Della Vedova noted that investment is an important aspect in bilateral relations. “In this case we can talk about the investment as the sharing of modern technology and Italian know-how with the Republic of Belarus. Italian equipment promotes the modernization of the Belarusian economy and job creation,” he said.

These efforts help increase the exports of goods from Belarus not only to Russia but also to other CIS countries and EU states, the Italian official said.