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Opinions & Interviews

9 Oct 2013

Shamir: Belarus-Israel cooperation in agriculture is mutually beneficial

Shamir: Belarus-Israel cooperation in agriculture is mutually beneficial

VITEBSK, 9 October (BelTA) – The Belarusian-Israeli industrial park can be a 100% successful project, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Israel Yair Shamir told media, BelTA has learnt.

“Based on the experience of cooperation between Israel and Belarus and other countries, I can say that this project can be very successful. For this it is necessary to clarify the details and expectations of both sides at an early stage. This will save us from misunderstanding and delays. Both parties must know exactly what they want and what result they aim for," the Minister said.

He stressed that the Belarusian-Israeli cooperation in the field of agriculture is mutually beneficial. "Israel is a very small country, half of which is desert. Therefore, we are going to benefit from cooperation with Belarus. In this cooperation we complement each other. Israel can bring modern technology and use the land and natural resources of Belarus. Over the years, our country has reached such the phenomenon as excess capacity. In Israel we can no longer use it and, therefore, are ready to share experiences with other states,” the Minister noted.

He also stressed that Israel is very actively engaged in recycling of agricultural production wastes. “We are very interested in this issue. Unfortunately, in previous years we invested very little in this problem. I believe that together we can start addressing the problem because Belarus will face it in the end," the Minister stressed. As the countries begin to work on the new project, it is worth checking out how they will be able to deal with the common problem," he added.

Yair Shamir is in Belarus on a working visit on 8-10 October. The Israeli Minister held a meeting with the senior officials of the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee, during which the project to build the Belarusian-Israeli agro-industrial park in Orsha and Tolochin districts was presented.

In January-July this year the foreign trade of Vitebsk Oblast with Israel amounted to $650,000, with export being at $24,000. Total annual turnover is approximately $1.5 million. Major export commodities are optical devices, occasionally fiberglass and optical cable. Lepel Concentrated Milk Plant, the leading exporter of dried milk, is working on getting a kosher certificate for dried milk in 2014. Major imports from Israel are medicines (50% of total imports), fruits, tools, cranes.

Vitebsk Oblast is home to three companies with a share of Israel: Smak (sale/purchase of goods from China and Vietnam, previously manufactured pasta), Omega (retail), and BIMA (health tourism).

The FEZ Vitebsk is implementing an investment project with the Israeli to provide transport and forwarding services in transportation of liquefied hydrocarbon gas in railcars-tanks.

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