MINSK, 28 August (BelTA) – Belarus and Turkey need to systematize their trade and economic relations and increase bilateral trade substantially, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu, BelTA has learned.
“I am convinced that your visit will help systematize our relations, make our trade and economic contacts more systemic and address pending issues. You are welcome to speak freely about these issues and we will understand you and respond appropriately,” the president said.
The head of state emphasized the friendly nature of Belarus-Turkey relations. “Thanks to the policy pursued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and your president, we have developed very good relations with the Republic of Turkey,” he said.
“We cooperate across all the areas. There are no forbidden themes in our relations. We have gone a very long and difficult way. We faced all kinds of challenges and addressed various problems about which we do not speak till this very day. We also successfully dealt with the issues in our international relations,” Aleksandr Lukashenko continued.
At the same time, the bilateral trade and economic cooperation should receive a serious boost. “We have a lot of work ahead. Naturally, we need to bolster the foundation of relations, trade and economic ties. Turkey and Belarus, the countries with huge growth potential, can have a much bigger trade than they have now. We have some kind of disarray we need to fix,” the president is convinced.
In this regard, the head of state believes that the intergovernmental commission and the embassies of the two countries need to team up to work out a solid action plan to increase bilateral trade. “If our trade is big, if we strongly depend on each other, then no one will be able to sever these ties,” Aleksandr Lukashenko underlined.
Mevlut Cavusoglu shared this view of the Belarusian head of state. He noted that this visit is aimed at working out a meaningful action plan, together with partners from the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to achieve the ambitious goals set by the presidents earlier. He also expressed appreciation for the opportunity to have this meeting and for the high evaluation of Belarus-Turkey relations on the part of Aleksandr Lukashenko. “I really appreciate that you called my country a friendly nation,” the minister said.
In 2018 Belarus-Turkey trade reached $984 million, with the import standing at $801 million and the export at $183 million (up 36%). Belarus' major exports were organic compounds of the nitrile functional group, potash fertilizers, semi-finished products from unalloyed steel, butter, wire from unalloyed steel, linen fabrics. Belarus imported knitted fabrics and materials, vegetables and fruit.
In the first half of 2019, bilateral trade and economic cooperation somewhat slowed down. Trade amounted to $418 million, the export stood at $68.2 million, the import at $349.8 million. Turkey invested $23.8 million in Belarus, about the same as a year before. The bulk of these investments were direct investments ($22.5 million).
Belarus is home to 139 companies with Turkish capital. These companies operate in the telecommunications industry (BeST), construction (Crowne Plaza Minsk), light industry, metalworking and the chemical industry. A subsidiary of Belneftekhim Concern and an office of MAZ were opened in Turkey. A factory assembling MTZ tractors was commissioned in the city of Kırıkkale in April 2019. Work is underway to launch facilities to assemble Gomselmash combines, Amkodor construction and special equipment, and to start shipping BELAZ dump trucks to the Turkish market.
