MINSK, 2 January (BelTA) – Belarus is ready to provide preferences to the Japanese business, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said in an interview with NHK, Japan's broadcasting organization, on 19 December, BelTA has learned from the website of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Japan is of huge interest to us. Indeed, we are expanding trade and economic contacts – our trade was estimated at some $120 million in January-October this year. However, we believe that our potential is far from being exhausted. We are interested in closer cooperation between the business communities of Belarus and Japan. We all know how far Japan has advanced in car making, production of household appliances and in high technology. Therefore, we would like to ramp up our cooperation. We are ready to offer ultimate preferences to the Japanese business should it decide to operate in Belarus,” Vladimir Makei said.
It is also important to intensify a political dialogue, including at the highest level. This matter is in focus now, the minister added.
At the start of the year 2018 Japanese nationals got an opportunity to stay in Belarus without a visa for 30 days. Japan is among the 80 countries whose citizens can take advantage of the visa waiver if they come to Belarus as tourists, on a business trip, for humanitarian purposes, etc.
“We are closely collaborating on mitigation of the negative impact of the nuclear disasters. Thanks to Japan we implemented nearly 40 social projects related to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. At the same time, we provided certain aid to Japan after the Fukushima accident. Every year about 130-150 Japanese children come to Belarus for recuperation and respite. They spend summer holidays at the Zubrenok children's camp,” Vladimir Makei said.
The minister also touched upon Belarus' cooperation with China. Vladimir Makei is convinced that it is necessary to advance from simple trade to direct credit and investment cooperation with this country. “We are now busy implementing such projects both in our country and in China. One of the biggest tasks is to strengthen interregional cooperation. Our country is not big, it has ten million residents. It is like a small village in China, so to say, if we compare the scale. Therefore, we are actively cooperating with Chinese regions, and this cooperation is bearing fruit. We see a substantial increase in our exports to China. This pertains, first of all, to the deliveries of agricultural products,” Vladimir Makei said.
