BREST, 20 February (BelTA) – At the meeting with local executive officials in Brest, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to Belarus Tomas Pernicky said that he takes Belarusian products as gifts for family and friends every time he visits his motherland, BelTA has learned.
“Every time diplomats return home, all their friends and relatives expect some gifts. To be frank, my little suitcase that I take on board a plane always has one or two kilos of fish from Santa Bremor. Everyone likes it a lot. I know for sure that these products are made in Belarus. I do not want to take home products that were manufactured in other countries and bought in the territory of Belarus. Some stores in Minsk know me as a heavy buyer,” the diplomat said.
By the way, during his two-day visit to Brest Oblast, Tomas Pernicky will also tour Santa Bremor. According to the diplomat, he cannot wait to get there. The ambassador also praised the quality of Belarusian furniture that he has in his apartment and other products made in Belarus.
Top on the agenda of his visit to the region was promotion of economic ties between Czechia and Belarus. In his view, economic cooperation is gaining momentum. The bilateral trade reached $475 million in 2019. This is more than Czechia's trade with Slovakia, Hungary and Austria altogether. There is still room for growth though. Special missions arranged by the embassy for Belarusian and Czech entrepreneurs are meant to make the most of cooperation opportunities. Last year five missions were organized, four of them for Belarusian manufacturers in Czechia.
“This year we would like to focus on missions for Czech entrepreneurs in Belarus. In 2019 we arranged such a trip to Vitebsk Oblast, now we would like to introduce Czech business people to Mogilev Oblast. It is very important for us to scale up cooperation in agriculture, food production and construction,” the ambassador said.
Brest Oblast Governor Anatoly Lis informed that in 2019 the region received $200,000 in foreign direct investment from Czechia. Brest Oblast is home to 27 companies with Czech capital. One of them was registered in the Brest free economic zone last year. The company plans to invest more than $1 million in a project to manufacture component parts for milking devices and refrigeration equipment.
The trade between Brest Oblast and Czechia amounted to $20.6 million in 2019. “I am sure that we can step up our export and import,” Anatoly Lis said. He invited the Czech ambassador to attend the fifth edition of the international B2B fair Brest 2020 that will be held on 24-25 April.
