CAIRO, 16 January (BelTA) – Economy and defense should be the foundation of the Belarusian-Egyptian cooperation, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with Egypt Prime Minister Sherif Ismail in Cairo on 16 January, BelTA has learned.
“Yesterday we discussed a number of topical issues, avenues of strategic cooperation for the future. We have agreed that as a result of the interaction between the members of our governments we will work out a short-term and mid-term action plan to reflect the essence of our relations. Naturally, this action plan should rely on such issues as the economy and defense,” Alexander Lukashenko is convinced. “It would be great to accentuate certain projects in this roadmap.”
Belarus has a huge industrial and scientific potential. “We have inherited it from the great country, the Soviet Union, in which we used to live. Back then, Belarus had the most advanced technologies in the Soviet Union. Finished products meant for export were made in Belarus. This economic basis relied on the strong economic foundation. We have preserved and developed it. Therefore, we can be competitive on your market. I have already told the President that it will be much cheaper for you to cooperate with us than to cooperate with other countries, first of all, with Western countries, in these fields,” the Belarusian leader emphasized.
Sherif Ismail, in turn, expressed hope that the visit of the Belarusian President to Egypt will lay the foundation for the closer cooperation between the two countries in the economy and politics. “In particular, we hope to bolster cooperation in the production of furniture, agriculture, sewage and irrigation water treatment,” the Prime Minister of Egypt noted. “If you are not against, we will create a working group and send it to Belarus within two weeks to analyze the cooperation potential in these fields.”
