News & Events in Belarus

Lukashenko: Belarus, Kazakhstan will always maintain good relations

NUR-SULTAN, 28 May (BelTA) – Belarus and Kazakhstan will always maintain good and kind relations, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Nur-Sultan on 28 May, BelTA informs.

“Belarus and Kazakhstan will always maintain good and kind relations. I do not have any doubts that we will make even more progress in our relations,” the Belarusian head of state emphasized.

Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that he had recently met with Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Belarus to discuss the prospects of advancing bilateral cooperation in certain fields.

Last year the trade turnover between Belarus and Kazakhstan went up almost 30% to reach $900 million as against 2017. Belarus’ export exceeded $783 million. In Q1 2019, the bilateral trade fell by nearly 10% from the same period of 2018. The trade turnover made up $171.5 million. Belarus’ trade surplus was $121.7 million.

Belarus exports milk and dairy products, tractors and tractor units, furniture, freight vehicles, medications, frozen beef, sugar, meat products to Kazakhstan. Major Belarus’ imports are oil products, coal, rail track, rolled steel products, petroleum gases, flax seeds, cotton fibers, onion, garlic.

The trade in services exceeded $153 million. Export reached $99 million, import made up $54.2 million.

Kazakhstani investments in the Belarusian economy exceeded $18.8 million in 2018 (up 4.8 timers). Direct investments totaled $18.3 million.

Belarus’ commodity distribution network in Kazakhstan includes over 40 companies with Belarusian capital and more than 170 dealer network facilities. There are eight joint assembly plants for Belarusian machinery and equipment (BelAZ, MTZ, Gomselmash, MAZ, Bobruiskagromash, etc.). There are 256 organizations with Belarus’ participation in Kazakhstan, and 45 enterprises with Kazakhstani capital in Belarus.

The roadmap of developing bilateral cooperation between the governments of Belarus and Kazakhstan in a central document of practical interaction between the two countries.

Aleksandr Lukashenko thanked Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the meeting ahead of the presidential election in Kazakhstan. “Kazakhstani people are not the same they were in mid-1990s, and I remember them very well. Back all of us had many ideas, sometimes unreasonable and unnecessary ideas. Today our people know what is going on around them, they understood where our honor, glory and success are,” the Belarusian leader stressed.

“I think that you’ve made the right decision to take part in the election although the election campaign is not easy. You explained very well that people need stability, that the president should be legitimate. I absolutely support the developments in Kazakhstan. I understand my friend Nursultan Abishevich [Nazarbayev] for whom the wellbeing of Kazakhstan is a priority. He worked with you, he told me about you a lot during our meetings. You have done a lot together with your colleagues to turn Kazakhstan into the country we know today,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko wished Kassym-Jomart Tokayev every success. “Kazakhstani people are very smart. They have already sorted things out,” he said.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, in turn, stressed that people in Kazakhstan respect the Belarusian leader very much. “We sincerely respect you as a person who has been Belarus president for many years and who is doing his best to enhance the authority and potential of the state. We appreciate your achievements and are happy for you,” the Kazakhstani leader said.

He also thanked the Belarusian leader for a warm meeting in Minsk in the autumn of 2018 when he visited Belarus as the leader of the parliamentary delegation.

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