Business news

ISLAMABAD, 5 October (BelTA) – The Pakistani private sector should more broadly use the industrial capabilities of Belarus. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the statement during the opening ceremony of the fourth Belarus-Pakistan business and investment forum on 5 October, BelTA has learned.

Alexander Lukashenko said: “I would like Pakistani businessmen to more broadly use our industrial capabilities for the sake of implementing various kinds of infrastructure projects in your country. Large Belarusian companies, which have earned a good reputation on the international market, are ready to work with you. Those are Minsk Tractor Works, BelAZ, Minsk Automobile Plant, Amkodor, Bobruiskagromash, Gomselmash, and Lidselmash.”

The President was confident that concrete steps should be taken to set up joint ventures for processing meat and milk, make baby food and tinned food. “We should definitely decide on 3-4 projects, which are important for Belarus and Pakistan, and start implementing them right away. Great accomplishments begin with small steps. These examples will demonstrate to businessmen in Belarus and Pakistan how things should be done. Those, who will take care of these projects, will be pioneers, pathfinders. Through them Pakistan and Belarus will take a closer look at the capabilities of each other,” pointed out the head of state.

According to Alexander Lukashenko, agriculture can become one of the pillars of Belarus-Pakistan economic cooperation along with manufacturing cooperation. In the near future serious headway can be made into stepping up cooperation between banks, in light industry, forestry industry, customs affairs, in matters concerning standardization and certification. The possibility of arranging direct air service between Belarus and Pakistan is under consideration. “The project fully depends on you. If you start travelling between Pakistan and Belarus, more than one flight will become available,” noted the President.

The head of state invited the businessmen to more actively use the potential of interstate mechanisms, primarily the Belarusian-Pakistani intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation and working groups on industrial and agricultural cooperation. “If necessary, we will set up working groups to take care of other avenues of our cooperation. We have also agreed to meet regularly. As you can see, visits to Belarus and Pakistan are arranged virtually every year in order to control the execution of our decisions,” the President said. “It is extremely important for Belarus-Pakistan relations to be full of trust and real economic content. I would like to note once again that the Belarusian side is open for intensive and scrupulous work with the Pakistani private sector in all the mutually beneficial avenues of cooperation.”