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Two months ago the Lodz Regional Development Agency signed a cooperation agreement with the Vitebsk Oblast Marketing Center. Przemyslaw Andrzejak said: “We are taking part in the forum in order to discuss matters of consequent cooperation for the next 12 months. One can say it is the first date. We’ve come to determine details of the future meeting of Polish and Belarusian private sectors.”

The official noted that as far as international economic cooperation is concerned, Poland’s main partners are countries of the European Union. But the Agency also has experience of spending Polish investments in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. “We believe that Belarus is a good place for spending Polish investments. It is also important that the investments will contribute to the development of Vitebsk and the region as a whole. They will be beneficial for Vitebsk Oblast residents,” stated Przemyslaw Andrzejak. “We suggest cooperation in manufacturing food, chemical industry products. Poland views Belarus as a gateway to the east while Belarus can see Poland as a gateway to the European Union. We should work to find contact points and implement projects together. We should set up joint ventures both in Belarus and Poland.”

The Lodz Regional Development Agency is an organization in charge of distributing European money among businesses in Poland. “If a Belarusian company opens a branch or starts working in Poland, the company will be able to tap into these resources as well. This is why we believe it is necessary to consider two ways of cooperation: encouraging Polish businesses to invest in Belarus and helping the Belarusians, who come to Poland, to open their own company and enjoy the European Union’s financial support on the terms available to Polish businesses,” explained Przemyslaw Andrzejak.

He went on saying: “Now when political relations between Poland and Belarus are getting better, the changes are reflected on the economy. Talks with the city authorities and regional ones took place during the forum in an informal manner. We hope we will be able to organize good projects thanks to the support.”

Several agreements on cooperation were signed during the forum in Vitebsk on 12 November. One of them is between the heads of Vitebsk Oblast education institutions and the agency in charge of vocational schools in the city of Lodz.

The forum will be continued in Orsha on 13 November. Taking part in the forum are representatives of small, medium and large businesses, the executive and legislative authorities of Belarus, business associations, and international organizations.