Posted:
24.10.2023 16:29:00
A strong economy is the key to sovereignty and independence
Last week, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko held four important international meetings. On Tuesday, the First Vice President of Iran and the Head of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry became guests of the Palace of Independence. On Thursday, the Belarusian leader received the Head of Mordovia and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Equatorial Guinea. The theme of economic co-operation, working under sanctions pressure, and the need to deepen co-operative ties ran through all the negotiations. The President constantly emphasises: now, when the whole world is stormy, it is the economy that comes to the fore. Here are the key statements of the Head of the Belarusian State.
“Today our battles continue in fields, factories, cultural and information sectors, in schools and universities — for our truth, for our development prospects, for our right to be sovereign and independent. We will have it all if we have a strong economy. This is the basis of everything,” the Belarusian leader said.
Last year the parties reached a record high trade of nearly $90 million. In January-August 2023 this figure rose significantly — the growth rate made up almost 300 percent, or $115.7 million.
“But it is far from the limit. We have enough resources for further development in this regard,” the President is convinced. “Today is the most appropriate time to develop industrial co-operation, and joint import-substituting manufacturing in the first place… We could participate in the creation of joint ventures in micro- and radioelectronics. You are also probably aware that we are now actively working with Russian partners on the concept of creating an aircraft for regional transport. Perhaps, taking into account your production potential, we could find common ground on this issue.”
The president voiced Belarus’ interest in co-operation with the company Ruzkhimmash in the development of foundry production and production of equipment for the chemical industry. The Head of State also mentioned Belarus’ readiness to share experience and technologies of using secondary resources, including synthetic RDF-fuel, to produce thermal energy.
Speaking about the upcoming International Exhibition and Forum called Russia at VDNKh in Moscow in November, where Mordovia will present its best achievements, Aleksandr Lukashenko proposed instructing the governments to hold a meeting at the VDNKh site at the same time and update joint agreements.
“We have a lot to talk about. This is why I also hope our conversation will yield good practical results. You know the situation Belarus is in. It is roughly the same situation you are in. The pressure exerted on our states is unprecedented, but you have already learned to resist it to some extent, and your experience is very important for us. What I am constantly surprised by is that during these large-scale actions Iran has not decreased the level of its development, but, on the contrary, has significantly increased it.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko paid an official visit to Iran in March 2023. Then the two Presidents agreed to work out a plan of action for the foreseeable future so that trade between the two countries and co-operation in general could develop more successfully. Following the talks, Aleksandr Lukashenko and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi signed a roadmap of comprehensive co-operation between the two countries for 2023-2026.
“The most important and key thing. Based on the experience of relations with Iran, on many years of cooperation with Iran, I conclude that your bureaucrats and ours need to learn to work very fast. If we have agreed on something, it must be implemented on time. The most important thing for us is time, not sanctions and pressure. We should not lose time because of red tape,” the Belarusian leader emphasised.
Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that the situation in the world is aggravating, and with the crisis in the Middle East unfriendly Western countries led by the United States of America are constantly directing the spearhead of this conflict against Iran.
“You can feel it better. Our answer is as follows: we must co-operate more closely with each other in order to be able to counter these attacks,” the President of Belarus said.
“Fortunately, we have recently been working very closely with your country in order to develop a concrete plan of action for our relations. I will definitely visit your country in the near future. We have already scheduled this. We’ll figure out the dates. But the most important thing is that we have a clear idea of how to build up trade and economic relations between our countries.”
The visit of Simeón Oyono Esono Angüe to Belarus will contribute to the implementation of the agreements that were reached between the Heads of the two States at the September negotiations in Minsk. Then one of the results of the summit meeting was the decision to create a joint intergovernmental commission on trade and economic co-operation. An impressive delegation from Equatorial Guinea, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of this country, arrived in the Belarusian capital for its first meeting.
“I’ve already told the President of Equatorial Guinea and would like to once again emphasise that Belarus has all the technologies for advancing your country to a higher level. You are also very interested in it. I also mentioned our proposals during the visit of your President. Essentially, we are ready to not only sell the products you need to you. We are ready to transfer technologies to you and train your people how to use them. And it would be a good idea (it is the second direction) for you and us to manage to create a manufacturing base in Equatorial Guinea that will be able to work for the benefit of neighbouring states at least,” the President of Belarus said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko believes that the current visit of the Equatorial Guinea’s minister of foreign affairs, international co-operation and diaspora will become the key stage in preparing a future meeting of the two leaders.
As experts note, the development of dialogue between Belarus and Equatorial Guinea has every chance of becoming exemplary in terms of its intensity.
Aleksandr Lukashenko often states that the future of our planet largely belongs to Africa. And if we are already relatively familiar with the north of the continent, recently more and more substantive contacts have been made with the central and southern parts. In general, the mainland is experiencing a real renaissance. The countries located here are increasingly declaring their desire to finally shake off the neocolonial yoke and independently determine their destiny and paths of development.
“It’s good that you have come to Belarus, it’s very well-timed. I think we don't need to get to know each other, we don’t need to find out what Belarus and Venezuela can bring to the table in bilateral co-operation. We have known each other for a long time and did a lot in the past to intensify our interaction.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that due to certain circumstances, primarily external factors, interaction between the two countries has been put on hold. “I feel that we need to have a fresh look at all areas and matters of cooperation that we identified in the times of Hugo Chavez. We definitely need to determine what we should and can do for Venezuela and what Venezuela should do for Belarus. We need to develop an appropriate plan, a roadmap for the short and medium term, and perhaps even the long term. If other states, say Cuba, need to be included in this cooperation scheme, we don’t mind it. In other words, if you agree, we will be ready, the foreign minister will be ready to implement these agreements by the new year,” the Head of State noted.
Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by
