SMOLENSK, 27 May (BelTA) - Belarus needs to bring cooperation with Smolensk Oblast to the highest level among Russian regions, Head of the Belarus President Administration Dmitry Krutoi said during a meeting to discuss cooperation between Belarus and Russia’s Smolensk Oblast, which took place at the government office of this Russian region on 27 May, BelTA has learned.
Dmitry Krutoi noted that bilateral cooperation is already characterized by high intensity and a broad agenda. “I would like to thank you and your team for your genuine interest in our country, your deep involvement in all processes,” he said addressing Smolensk Oblast Governor Vasily Anokhin. “You visit Belarus very often, and you are one of the governors personally known to our president. He regularly inquires about how things are going with you.”
Dmitry Krutoi invited Vasily Anokhin to visit Belarus again and attend the festivals Alexandria Gathers Friends and Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk. "I am not sure how comfortable it will be for you to stay in our country for a week, but rest assured, we will arrange an extensive and interesting program," he added.
He also emphasized that billions in trade between Belarus and Smolensk Oblast should not lead to complacency. He recalled that the three-year cooperation program between Belarus and Smolensk Oblast is concluding this year. "We hope the next program will be just as ambitious and well-developed, involving even more enterprises. There are regions like Tatarstan, Nizhny Novgorod, or Moscow Oblast, where we have extensive programs and business cooperation councils. We need to bring cooperation with Smolensk Oblast to the same level," Dmitry Krutoi stressed.
The meeting was also attended by Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Aleksandr Rogozhnik, State Secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia Sergei Glazyev, and representatives of the Smolensk Oblast government. The agenda included discussions on establishing a joint breeding and seed production center, setting up experimental fields, implementing an investment project to create a service center and manufacture low-floor buses by MAZ, Belarusian companies’ participation in a road construction project in Smolensk Oblast, procurement of passenger transport by Belkommunmash, and the creation of a trade and exhibition center for Belarusian manufacturers in the region.
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