Belarus, Syria to prepare free trade agreement
National Legal Internet Portal (Belarus) | 10/02/2008
Belarus, Syria to prepare free trade agreement
Belarus and Syria will start preparing a free trade agreement, Foreign Minister of Belarus Sergei Martynov told reporters after the talks with Foreign Minister of the Syrian Arab Republic Walid al Muallem on October 2 in Minsk.
Sergei Martynov said that the sides agreed to start working on new economic agreements to intensify bilateral interaction. He stressed that Belarus and Syrian have created quite a good legal-treaty base which includes more than 20 agreements.
According to the Foreign Minister of Belarus, the sides agreed to prepare a visit of the Syrian President to Belarus and discussed the mechanisms of expanding economic cooperation. Sergei Martynov said that for the past decade the Belarusian-Syrian trade has increased more than 20 times but so far does not meet the potential of the two countries.
The sides also discussed the ways of intensifying sci-tech, educational and cultural links. In 2009 Minsk is expected to host the national exhibition and Days of Culture of Syria.
The foreign ministers of the two countries exchanged the opinion on the situation in the regions of Belarus and Syrian and in the Caucasus.
The Foreign Minister of Syria said that his meeting with the Belarusian counterpart was fruitful and friendly. The sides confirmed the interest to develop the bilateral relations.
