MINSK, 16 January (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko is invited to visit Latvia on 3 April, Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said as he met with the Belarusian head of state on 16 January, BelTA has learned.
“A lot of preparatory work is underway to arrange your visit to Latvia. We suggest 3 April for the visit, if it is convenient to the Belarusian side. We will be very glad to see you,” Krisjanis Karins said.
He expects the Belarusian delegation to include business people, so that the parties will be able to discuss not only political, but also economic cooperation.
In 2018, the Belarus-Latvia trade went up almost 33% year-on-year to $582.7 million. Belarus' export reached $485.6 million, import made up $97.1 million. In January-November 2019, the trade exceeded $460 million, export totaled $377.5 million.
The export of services reached $188.2 million in 2018. It was $136.6 million in January-October 2019.
In 2018, Latvian investments in the Belarusian economy made up $107.5 million, including $82.1 million worth of direct investments. In January-September 2019, Latvia invested $68 million, including $53.6 million worth of direct investments.
There are 585 enterprises with the Latvian capital specializing in trade, provision of services, wood processing, pharmaceutics on the territory of Belarus. The two countries have a bilateral intergovernmental commission for economic and sci-tech cooperation, a business cooperation council, a mixed commission for international automobile transportation, a transport working group.
