Golovchenko: Belarus ready to be reliable partner for Kingdom of Eswatini
Belarus has been building friendly relations with the countries of the African continent based on mutual respect, friendship and openness for many years – as stated by Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko during his today’s meeting with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Russell Mmiso Dlamini, at Minsk’s Government House
Roman Golovchenko welcomed Russell Mmiso Dlamini to friendly Belarus, “Very little time has passed since the establishment of diplomatic relations between our states, and today we are already holding the first intergovernmental negotiations at the level of the prime ministers of the two countries. I am sure that today's meeting will mark a good start to long-term and productive co-operation between the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Republic of Belarus.”
The Prime Minister noted that, for many years, Belarus has been building friendly relations with the countries of the African continent based on mutual respect, friendship and openness. The President of Belarus, government and parliamentary delegations have been visiting these states, and Mr. Golovchenko noted, “The Head of State recently said that we are going to Africa with peace. We are not going there, as colonialists once did, with aggressive and exploitative goals. We are going there with technology and knowledge, we are training people and preparing specialists.”
The Prime Minister stressed that Belarus is a reliable and proven partner for many African states, “We hope that your visit will place the Kingdom of Eswatini among them. We understand that the first impression of the members of your delegation and your personal impressions largely determine how our relations will develop in the future. I hope that, before coming here, you got a little acquainted with the potential of our country, its economic structure, and our export opportunities.”
Mr. Golovchenko reminded that Belarus is an industrially developed state, and its industrial production accounts for a significant part of the gross domestic product and export potential. Belarusian engineering products are well represented in such African countries as the Republic of South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe – ‘especially Zimbabwe, with which we are implementing numerous agricultural mechanisation programmes’. “We are running a joint Belarusian-Zimbabwean programme for the mechanisation of agriculture in this country, and its two stages have already been implemented. We are now working over the third one. As a result of this work, Zimbabwe fully provided itself with grain in 2022 for the first time in fifty years. I am talking about this in order to demonstrate, if you can call it this way, a story of success. Of course, we are interested in promoting our bilateral relations, primarily, in the trade and economic sphere, putting them on stable tracks, where both countries – Belarus and Eswatini — could gain their advantages,” he said.
The Prime Minister also informed his colleague and members of the Eswatini delegation that Belarus’ agriculture is also well developed. The country not only provides itself with almost 100 percent of all types of food products, but also exports about $8bn of them. "In a number of countries, we have implemented joint programmes dealing with the construction of dairy, livestock complexes, food industry and processing enterprises," he added.
Continuing to present the possibilities of Belarus, Mr. Golovchenko noted that a developed medical sphere is actually among Belarus’ calling cards: the country’s achievements in the field of cardiology, transplantation, oncology, rehabilitation, maternal and child health are widely known far beyond its borders.
On June 21st, Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini will visit a Belarusian medical institution to get acquainted with the country’s healthcare system and discuss promising projects in the field of experience exchange between the medical sectors of the two countries.
During the meeting, the parties also discussed other areas that Belarus can develop together with Eswatini.
Concluding his speech, Mr. Golovchenko once again welcomed Russell Mmiso Dlamini and all members of the Eswatini delegation to Minsk, also confirming Belarus’ readiness for open and dynamic joint work.
