MINSK, 26 June (BelTA) – Belarus will revise the approaches to its diplomatic presence in Africa, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei told the media after the talks with his Angolan counterpart Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti in Minsk on 26 June, BelTA has learned.
“The African continent as a whole is of great interest to us. We plan to review some of our approaches to the diplomatic presence on this continent, and identify the countries the cooperation with which can bring us greater dividends in the near future,” the Belarusian minister of foreign affairs said.
Vladimir Makei explained that the ministry is currently evaluating the performance of the diplomatic missions in a number of African countries, analyzing progress in the relations with certain countries. “We are not satisfied with the development pace of our trade and economic relations with some countries. Therefore, we are set to revise our approaches to the cooperation with a number of countries as part of the general work to optimize the system of government agencies. I think we will reduce our diplomatic presence in the regions where we did not get the results we expected, and will increase it in those regions that hold the greatest potential for us. Unfortunately, our plans and estimations do not always work out in practice,” the minister said.
As for the cooperation with Angola, Vladimir Makei pointed out that Belarus is interested in strengthening the relations with this country. There is a number of areas in which Belarus and Angola can reach concrete mutually beneficial results.
“Last year, our trade with this country totaled some $40 million. In January-April 2017, the trade made up $30 million. The figures speak for themselves, and this is not the limit,” the minister emphasized.
