Georgian President paying official visit to Belarus

1 марта 2017

By Veronika Buta: The Georgian President is currently paying an official visit to Belarus, today being the first negotiation day. Giorgi Margvelashvili will meet with Alexander Lukashenko in the Palace of Independence to hold one-on-one talks to be later joined by delegation members. Special attention will be paid to accelerating trade and economic cooperation.

The Georgian leader's official visit to Belarus has already been called historic. After gaining independence, the countries have not expressed active interest in each other for a long time. However, Alexander Lukashenko’s visit to Georgia in 2015 gave a new impetus to bilateral relations. Giorgi Margvelashvili’s return visit confirms the fact that the parties’ intentions are more than serious.

The Georgian leader arrived at Minsk National Airport late last night to be welcomed with special honours. This is Giorgi Margvelashvili’s first state visit to Belarus. The Georgian delegation will be staying in Minsk for two more days. Its agenda includes discussing bilateral cooperation with a focus on intensifying trade and economic relations between the two countries.

The volume of Belarus-Georgia mutual trade has grown by 60% over the past year, making up about 100 million dollars in 2016 mainly due to the export of Belarusian goods to Georgia.

The countries plan to switch to a cooperative collaboration, i.e. to not just sell products to each other, but also to develop joint enterprises and explore new larger markets together. The guests are paying close attention to Belarus’ experience in developing the agricultural sector.

There are plans to set up two joint enterprises to assemble tractors and elevators. Belarus is also ready to assist in the university training of agriculture experts. The pharmaceutical industry and information technologies are among new cooperation spheres.

This morning, the Georgian leader is scheduled to meet with the President of Belarus. First, Alexander Lukashenko and Giorgi Margvelashvili will hold one-on-one talks to be later joined by delegation members. The meeting is expected to result in the signing of several bilateral documents. The visit’s programme includes a meeting with the leaders of both chambers of the Parliament. The guests are also planned to visit the High-Tech Park and the Belarusian National Technical University.