MINSK, 6 November (BelTA) – Latvia is gearing up for a visit of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, waiting for Belarus' proposals on the date. The matter was discussed between Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko and Latvia's Ambassador to Belarus Einars Semanis, BelTA has learned.
The parties talked over the preparations of the Belarusian president's visit to Latvia. According to the ambassador, Riga is gearing up for the visit and waiting for proposals regarding the date. For his part, Vladimir Andreichenko expressed confidence that the forthcoming visit would add an impetus to bilateral relations.
The speaker hailed active cooperation at the level of ministries, departments and parliaments. “Parliamentary contacts have been steadily developing, both on a bilateral basis and within international organizations, especially in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,” said Vladimir Andreichenko. He suggested more active use of the platform of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, where Latvia is a permanent participant and Belarus seeks an observer status.
The chairman of the House of Representatives views cooperation in the transport and transit sector as strategic one. The speaker believes that MPs need to actively support projects beneficial to both countries. Einars Semanis, in turn, made a focus on railway transportation, transshipment of goods through Latvian ports. “Latvia, like Belarus, is interested in all the matters related to the transit and transportation of oil and oil products, mineral fertilizers,” he said.
Vladimir Andreichenko added that Belarus and Latvia have opportunities to increase mutual trade, especially in terms of establishing joint ventures. Today, there are almost 600 Latvia-funded companies in Belarus. “We are determined to further promote cooperation through friendship groups, established in the parliaments of Belarus and Latvia,” said the speaker. He expressed hope that a meeting of the Belarusian and Latvian parliaments would take place during Einars Semanis' diplomatic mission.
