The broadening of cooperation with the countries of Middle East is gaining an importance for strengthening the so called "far arc of partnership" as an element of the balanced foreign policy of the Republic of Belarus. Similar approaches to address the social and economic development contribute to increased cooperation between Belarus and the Middle East countries in all fields. Regular exchange of visits at the highest level has a positive impact on the development of bilateral cooperation with the countries of this region.
As the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko said in an interview, "Belarus is intensively developing cooperation with the East countries. For a country with an open, export-oriented economy, the intensification of work in this region is of great importance in the current conditions. These are the countries that we consider friendly."
On November 22, the Belarusian Government Head paid a visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to "synchronize watches" in the main areas of bilateral cooperation, to reach agreement on a draft roadmap for interaction. As part of this visit, the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, together with a partner organization – the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, organized a visit to Tehran of a Belarusian business circles delegation.
The main event of the visit, aimed at establishing ties with the Iranian business community, was the Iran-Belarus business forum. The participation of distinguished guests, the First Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Mokhber and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko, testifies to the event significance.
On opening the event, Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber said that Belarus and Iran intend to intensify trade and economic cooperation."Our countries maintain high-level political relations. However, trade and economic relations have not been fully realized, unfortunately," Mohammad Mokhber said. He expressed confidence that the agreements reached with the Belarusian side during the visit will be implemented soon.
The Belarusian Prime Minister noted that this year the two countries have significantly expanded the level of cooperation in many areas, from trade to goods and cargo flows. "We still need to take a number of steps, hold a number of events, conclude a number of documents so that we can realize the full potential that the two countries have in industry, science and technology," Roman Golovchenko said."
According to the Prime Minister, Belarus is ready and open to an active dialogue and the development of cooperation with Iran in all the areas. "There is a huge window of opportunity, which we have to use to make our industry stronger, our people richer, and our political system more robust," he said.
The business forum was attended by the Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade of Iran Seyed Reza Fatemi Amin, Chairman of the BelCCI Mikhael Miatlikov, Chairman of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture Gholamhossein Shafei, members of the official delegation of Belarus, more than 120 heads and representatives of Belarusian and Iranian companies.
The Chairman of the BelCCI noted that the Belarusian business has interest and specific proposals for the development of cooperation, the implementation of joint projects with Iranian partners. The Belarusian delegation members – heads of large enterprises from the fields of industrial production and engineering, woodworking, light industry, food industry, and others – got the opportunity to present their potential to Iranian business representatives.
The Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry also noted the effectiveness of cooperation with the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, which has been the main partner of the BelCCI in Iran for over 20 years. He invited colleagues to visit Belarus in order to present the infrastructure and capabilities of Iranian ports and their terminals, discuss prospects for developing cooperation with Belarusian companies, and also suggested that the Iranian side organize a national exhibition or exposition in Minsk as part of one of the major international congress and exhibition events next year. "The BelCCI is ready to receive a business delegation under the auspices of the Iranian Chamber and provide Iranian business with comprehensive support in a wide range of areas," Mikhael Miatlikov underlined.
Within the framework of the forum, an Agreement on Cooperation was signed between the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture. The document is intended to give an additional impetus to the Belarus-Iran business relations.
The two associations have agreed to develop cooperation in order to increase efficiency of their assistance to companies and organizations in promoting and developing all kinds of bilateral economic activities, to be engaged in the arrangement of business missions, B2B negotiations, exhibitions, fairs, seminars, conferences and other events in the order to inform business circles about the economy and export opportunities of the Republic of Belarus and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Besides, the parties shall exchange commercial proposals on trade and economic activities, lists of potential partners interested in bilateral cooperation, information on congress and exhibition events, as well as legal acts in the field of foreign economic activity.
Following the plenary part of the forum, representatives of the business circles of the two countries continued to work in the format of B2B negotiations, established contacts for further cooperation and joint projects implementation.
On the eve of the event, the Belarusian business delegation members visited Iran Trade Development Organization and the Organization for Industrial Development and Reconstruction of Iran, held talks on the prospects for partnership with Iranian companies.
On November 23, the business delegation members had individual meetings with representatives of the Iranian business community and visited a number of production sites in Tehran.
However, the official delegation continued working by visiting the Syrian Arab Republic. The events in Damascus were attended by the Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Upon arrival in Damascus, Mikhael Miatlikov met with the representative of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Syria Riad Hamad. During the meeting the main areas of the BelCCI representative's work in promoting Belarusian-Syrian business ties, providing support to the Chamber and its unitary enterprises in holding events with the participation of businesses from the two countries were discussed.
Within the framework of the Government delegation work, Mikhael Miatlikov took part in an extended-format meeting of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko and the Prime Minister of the Syrian Arab Republic Hussein Arnous.
The BelCCI Chairman and the President of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce, Mohamad Abu Al-Huda Al-Lahham, signed an Agreement on Cooperation between the two organizations in the presence of the officials. Supporting the expansion of trade and economic relations between the Republic of Belarus and the Syrian Arab Republic and governed by the aim to assist Belarusian and Syrian organizations and companies in business networking, the BelCCI and the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce have agreed to develop interaction, organize business missions, exhibitions, fairs, seminars, conferences and other events to familiarize business circles with the economy and export opportunities of the two countries, to exchange information on trade and economic cooperation, lists of potential partners, to cooperate to develop international arbitration, to maintain regular contacts and take all necessary measures to ensure efficient development of business relations.
The program of the events within the framework of the visit to Damascus was continued by a meeting with the senior executives of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce and Syrian business representatives.
During the meeting, the heads of the BelCCI and the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce noted the constructive interaction between the two organizations, the effectiveness of bilateral business events held on a regular basis, the participation of Belarusian enterprises in international exhibitions and fairs in Syria. Mikhael Miatlikov invited Syrian business circles to visit Belarus, combining the visit with participation in the Belagro International Specialized Exhibition to be held in Minsk in June 2023.
Representatives of Syrian companies expressed their interest in cooperation with Belarusian businesses in the fields of mechanical engineering, metallurgy, chemical, textile, food industries, and agriculture.
The work of the Belarusian delegation in Iran and Syria showed that there are a serious potential, interest of the parties and opportunities for the most efficient development of trade and economic relations in a wide range of areas. There are a number of niches that Belarusian enterprises can successfully take in the Iranian and Syrian markets. And work to strengthen the agreements established during the visit will be continued to ensure their speedy implementation into real mutually beneficial projects.
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