Economy Ministry on which countries Belarus actively increasing its exports to

Belarus’ First Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Kartun told the First News TV Channel which countries Belarus is actively increasing its exports to

Andrei Kartun stressed that Belarus is actively expanding its export supplies to Asia.

“We are also actively developing Africa, which is a new growth point for our exports. We have launched work here, and there is a special plan for specific positions. Enterprises and departments have been informed what to sell, where, in what quantity, and reference points for Africa have been identified. This all has resulted in a more than quadruple growth of exports – obviously a great success for us. Next year, if we continue at this pace, we will approach a $1bn bar in our exports. At least we’ll try. We expect exports to definitely stand at $0.7-0.8bn next year,” he said.

Latin America is another promising area.

“This is a huge untapped market. We were represented there by traditional commodities. Now we are starting work, there are certain plans approved at the governmental level. Yes, these countries are far away, but nevertheless we need to work to ensure that our traditional goods – which enjoy popularity among our neighbours – are tested in new markets. I’m convinced the demand will be great,” the First Deputy Economy Minister said.

According to him, Belarus has entered a new stage of co-operation with China. Premier of China’s State Council Li Qiang recently visited our country, and a number of agreements were concluded.

“The most promising agreement tackles trade in services and investment which is currently being ratified at the legislative level. We see export growth prospects of about 15 percent in the coming years. We also expect a significant increase in investments. If we talk about Chinese investments, we have already formed a certain portfolio based on the results of the meetings. We definitely have about 14 projects already, and the potential Chinese investments have already exceeded $1bn. These are the projects that are in a fairly high stage of readiness. Some of them are already being implemented, while others will be implemented in the near future. I think a more active phase will begin next year,” Andrei Kartun noted.