BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/10/2009

Belarus interested in Latvian ports for exporting products to Asia, Africa, North and South Americas

Alla Petrova, BC, Riga,

During the last meeting of the Latvian-Belarusian intergovernmental committee on economic, scientific and technical cooperation, the Belarusian side expressed interest in Latvian ports' services so that Belarusian products could be exported to Asia, Africa, North and South Americas.

As the Economy Ministry's public relations officer Evita Urpena informed the business information portal "Nozare.lv", Latvian-Belarusian cooperation in the industrial sector as well as the establishment of joint logistics centers in Latvia was discussed at the meeting, writes LETA.

Also discussed were opportunities for export of automobiles, agricultural and other machinery from Belarus to Latvia as well as cooperation prospects between Rigas Autoelektroaparatu rupnica (Riga Automatic Electric Appliances Plant) and the Belarusian company MTZ.

In order to promote economic and trade cooperation between Latvia and Belarus, "Gomel Days in Liepaja" will be organized to present goods produced in Belarusian city of Gomel in Latvia; a contact exchange will also be held during the event.

During the intergovernmental committee's meeting, the Latvian side pointed out that several restrictions hamper the movement of goods and services between both countries, for instance, high customs duties on agricultural goods and cement, and high telecommunication data transmission fees.

Also during the meeting, a separate experts' meeting took place to discuss the cooperation between Latvia and Belarus in the transport sector. The representatives of Latvia suggested increasing the frequency of flights between Riga and Minsk from one to two flights a day. The national airlines of both countries will present their proposals to the Latvian and Belarusian transport ministers regarding the proposed flight frequency.

It was also agreed that a trilateral Latvian-Belarusian-German meeting would be held to discuss unifying construction design, construction supplies production and building energy efficiency standards in the three countries.

Education and science representatives from both countries agreed that six to eight cooperation projects would be launched in the science and innovations sector in 2010.

In order to encourage the cooperation in tourism sector, mutual tour operators' visits would be organized and new tourism products would be developed in line with tourists' wishes in both countries.

In conclusion of the meeting, three cross-border agreements were signed: protocol on unified standardization criteria in veterinary medicine, protocol on economic and scientific cooperation and a protocol between Liepaja and Gomel on their cooperation in 2010.

The intergovernmental committee's meeting took place in Liepaja on October 14 and October 15. Presiding at the meeting were Transport Minister Kaspars Gerhards (For Fatherland And Freedom/LNNK) on behalf of Latvia and Belarusian Economy Minister Nikolai Zaichenko on behalf of Belarus. The next meeting of the committee will take place at end-2010 in Belarus.

Source:

http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/transport/?doc=19575

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