Belarus’ First Deputy Foreign Minister on co-operation with Latin American countries: time to update agreements
Belarus has already had quite large projects with Latin American countries, and now it’s time to update the agreements, strategic co-operation and come to an economic result – as noted by Belarus’ First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Lukashevich, a member of the Belarusian government delegation headed by Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko during an official visit to Venezuela
“We have been present and continue to be present in the regions of Latin America. Today we’ve arrived in an expanded team, consisting of both government and commercial agencies, as well as banks and organisations that own financial instruments,” Mr. Lukashevich noted. “We are here to consolidate the agreements that have historically developed. You remember the surge, the peak activity that was between Belarus and Venezuela not so long ago. And today we are here to restore this activity.”
According to the First Deputy Foreign Minister, the Belarusian side is ready to discuss with partners a wide range of issues aimed at expanding political co-operation, trade-economic, cultural and other liaisons.
“We see the result of the Belarusian leader’s guiding policy. We’re expanding and deepening interaction with the countries of the far arc. As for the prospects, they always depend on the efforts of both sides. On the first day of Belarus’ PM visit, we saw that we are welcomed here. Further meetings will be held at various levels, and I’m convinced they will bring us the necessary results.”
Answering the question of how important co-operation with Latin American countries is for Belarus, Mr. Lukashevich replied, “The club of selected countries, which is present on the world stage, is now slightly bursting at the seams. I think, it should be replaced by a fairer club of countries where no one imposes their point of view, claiming the uniqueness of certain approaches. During Roman Golovchenko’s current official visit, we will be present in the countries of our friends. We’re working together on the international agenda, achieving certain goals: a just world order that will give our countries the development we need. It is on this basis of sound co-operation that we are grouping with Latin American countries.”
He added that Belarus has already had quite large projects with Latin American countries and now it’s time to update the agreements, strategic co-operation and come to an economic result.
Speaking about interaction with Nicaragua, the official noted that relations with this country originated during the Soviet Union, “Many Belarusian specialists have worked in this country, but today we are rediscovering Nicaragua for ourselves. We put economic co-operation on the basis of good political interaction. And as we can already see from the results we get, this is the right strategy: to convert political friendship into an economic result. We’re moving confidently enough with great strides from Nicaragua.”
