MINSK, 20 January (BelTA) - Belarus is interested in advancing ties with Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the House of Representatives Vladimir Andreichenko said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Russian Federation and concurrently to the Republic of Belarus Abdulrahman Bin Suleiman Al Ahmed in Minsk on 20 January, BelTA has learned.
"You have extensive experience in diplomatic work and our meeting is a great opportunity to outline ways for further development of cooperation between the countries, including between the parliaments. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a recognized leader in the Arab world, and Belarus is interested in developing relations in all areas," Vladimir Andreichenko said. “This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. It is time we intensify our dialogue, exchange delegations. We need to advance our ties that are very weak today. First of all, our trade and economic relations."
The speaker noted that Belarus and Saudi Arabia need to put more effort into the development of the legal framework, cooperation in international organizations. "You met with our sport and tourism minister, and I think that you outlined approaches to the cooperation in that area too. There are many avenues where we can cooperate. We would be happy to host a delegation of Saudi Arabia in Belarus. The inter-parliamentary friendship groups that have been set up in our parliaments also play an important role in the development of relations. I think it is time for our friendship groups to prepare an agreement on inter-parliamentary cooperation. The document could be signed during a high-level visit. In general, I would like to say that Belarus and Saudi Arabia have a lot of areas in which we can develop close cooperation. We are waiting for interesting proposals and initiatives from you, as well,” he stressed.
The ambassador added that Saudi Arabia is also in developing cooperation with Belarus. “We have been actively cooperating at present. We were unable to exchange delegations in the past two years due to the situation with COVID-19. We hope that we will have such an opportunity now. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is interested in exchanging delegations and intensifying relations in the economic sector. I had a meeting with the Belarusian minister of foreign affairs. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is participating in the bidding for the Expo 2030, and we ask for support from our Belarusian counterparts. We had a meeting with the Belarusian sport and tourism minister, during which we discussed many issues of mutual interest. We hope that once the COVID-19 situation is over, our parliamentary groups will intensify their cooperation,” Abdulrahman Suleiman Al Ahmed said.
