ROME, 6 February (BelTA) – Belarus' Prime Minister Sergei Rumas left for Italy for a working visit on 6 February, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian government.
Sergei Rumas will hold a series of meetings in Rome to discuss a broad range of matters of the Belarus-Italy cooperation agenda, as well as Belarus' preparations for the 2nd European Games in Minsk.
Italy has traditionally been one of Belarus' major trading partners. In 2018 the bilateral trade rose to $912.7 million, up 15.2% over 2017. Belarus' major exports included potash fertilizers, metal products, furniture and timber. All in all, Belarus exported 188 names of commodity items to Italy. In January-November 2018 the trade in services expanded by 52.1% over the same period in 2017 to reach $63.6 million. Transportation services accounted for 70.1% of Belarus' export of services.
In January-September 2018 Belarus raised $18.7 million of Italian investment, up 58.3% over the same period a year before. Belarus is home to 263 companies with Italian capital (20 of them opened in 2018).
