Events

MINSK, 4 June (BelTA) – Minsk will play host to a conference of the OSCE PA Silk Road support group in 2019, Chairman of the House of Representatives Vladimir Andreichenko said as he met with Damdin Tsogtbaatar, Mongolia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, head of the Mongolian-Belarusian parliamentary group in the State Great Khural of Mongolia, on 4 June, BelTA has learned.

The parties discussed the issues of cooperation in international organizations.

The OSCE PA Silk Road support group consists of 22 states, including Mongolia. The first conference was held in Azerbaijan. “We are planning to hold the conference in Minsk in the first half of 2019,” Vladimir Andreichenko informed.

The speaker said that Belarus is preparing a resolution on the development of digital economy for the OSCE PA session in Berlin. This resolution has already been supported by 14 states such as Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Hungary, Austria, Russia and others, Vladimir Andreichenko noted. Belarus counts on the support of Mongolian colleagues as the Standing Committee, which makes decisions on the inclusion of documents in the agenda, considers this resolution and during the session, Vladimir Andreichenko noted.

During the meeting the parties discussed the prospects for inter-parliamentary cooperation. There is an untapped potential for its development, stressed Vladimir Andreichenko. The Belarusian side attaches great importance to it. He invited the groups of friendship set up at the parliaments of the two countries to outline the priorities of interaction.

The Belarusian-Mongolian trade is small but demonstrates positive growth. Damdin Tsogtbaatar drew attention to the fact that the countries seek to bolster contacts at the level of the business communities. Belarus and Mongolia are of interest to each other. Belarus and Mongolia are transit countries. Belarusian goods pass through Mongolia to the Asia-Pacific region and Mongolian commodities are transported to Europe via Belarus. The parties expressed the interest in strengthening the positive trends in trade, including through the efforts of parliamentarians.