Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 29 October (BelTA) – Belarus is willing to dramatically expand cooperation with Iraq, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Iraq to the Republic of Belarus Haidar Hadi on 29 October, BelTA has learned.

“Belarus greatly values the friendly relations between our countries. We are ready for the most dramatic steps to intensify cooperation,” Vladimir Andreichenko said. The speaker noted that at present the cooperation between the two countries lags behind its true potential. The legal framework of the bilateral ties is still in its nascence, which greatly impedes the progress in promoting the bilateral contacts. Besides, the trade between the two countries is still insignificant.

“However we believe that we have no obstacles for ramping up cooperation,” the Chairman of the House of Representatives said. In his words, closer interparliamentary ties might play an important role here. “I cannot say that we do not cooperate on the interparliamentary level these days. We have welcomed delegations from Iraq and Iraq has played host to delegations from Belarus. We closely interact with the Iraqi Embassy in Belarus,” the speaker said. In his words, the Belarusian parliament has sent an invitation to the Iraqi speaker to visit Belarus any time. “We believe that during this visit we could sign a cooperation agreement between the parliaments of the two countries. This agreement might give an impetus to cooperation in other fields,” he said.

Vladimir Andreichenko informed the Iraqi Ambassador that the Belarusian parliament sets up interparliamentary cooperation groups that maintain contacts with the parliaments of other countries. So far there are 56 such groups. The speaker believes that similar groups could be established by the parliaments of the two countries.

Addressing the Iraqi diplomat Vladimir Andreichenko said: “We see how hard you work to promote the bilateral cooperation and strengthen the friendly ties between Belarus and Iraq”. In his words, MPs will always help materialize various initiatives coming from Iraq.

Haidar Hadi agreed that the trade between Belarus and Iraq is small and falls short of its potential. However, the Iraqi side is actively working on it. During the visit of the Iraqi business delegation led by the chairman of the chamber of commerce and industry in June 2014, the parties signed a memorandum of understanding between the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Iraq. According to him, the parties have drafted the memorandum of understanding between the Agriculture and Food Ministry of Belarus and the Agriculture Ministry of Iraq. Belarus has already completed interstate procedures needed to sign the document. The memorandum is expected to the signed during a high-level visit. The diplomat expressed hope that this and other important documents will be concluded in the near future during the scheduled visits of Iraqi ministers to Belarus.