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Untapped potential for tighter Belarus-Colombia cooperation

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MINSK, 16 July (BelTA) - Belarus is yet to chart the cooperation with Colombia in a lot of ways, Chairman of the Standing Commission on International Affairs of the House of Representatives Andrei Savinykh told reporters, BelTA reports.

On 16 July, the House of Representatives hosted Carlos German Navas Talero, Vice President of the Chamber of Representatives of the Congress of Colombia.

"Colombia is a country that we are yet to chart the cooperation in a lot of way. Nevertheless, there is already a dialogue between foreign ministries. We see obvious prospects in the field of higher education. We need to accelerate the work on signing agreements on the recognition of diplomas, and I am convinced that Belarus can become a place where Colombian students will be able to receive higher education across a wide range of specialties," Andrei Savinykh said.

According to him, there are prospects for expanding cooperation in information technology, implementing various projects, and providing services for Colombia, especially in geological exploration. “As for merchandise trade, there are certain groups of products that are of interest to the bilateral relations, for example, BelAZ machinery, primarily haul trucks, for Colombia’s mining enterprises, and Belarusian medical equipment that is known for its high quality and attractive prices,” Andrei Savinykh noted.

Drawing up a roadmap to step up the Belarusian-Colombian cooperation is on the agenda. “It is better to develop cooperation in line with a specific plan. A roadmap provides a list of steps that we should take. This matter has also been in focus of today’s meeting. First, we believe that we should sign an agreement on trade and economic cooperation to lay down the groundwork. After that, it would probably be better to set up special bodies to develop cooperation. We could also set up a business cooperation council at our chambers of commerce and industry, exchange visits of delegations, and take part in expos together. I am literally listing activities that might be set forth in this roadmap. We expect to finalize it in the near future and to advance the Belarusian-Colombian relations in line with the roadmap,” Andrei Savinykh added.

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