Belarus, Slovenia agree on cooperation in power industry

Belarus and Slovenia agreed to develop cooperation in the power industry. The relevant framework agreement has been signed in Minsk, Deputy Foreign Minister Elena Kupchina said opening the 3rd meeting of the intergovernmental Belarusian-Slovenian commission for trade, economic and sci-tech cooperation, BelTA has learnt.

Elena Kupchina named the first day of the meeting of the bilateral commission as constructive. The Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry played host to the Belarusian-Slovenian business forum. Partaking in it were 16 Slovenian companies and over 50 representatives of Belarusian business associations. Besides, the parties discussed all-round cooperation between the two countries. The first results of the work are in the signing of the memorandum of understanding on cooperation in privatization data sharing. According to the Belarusian official, the move will lay down a solid groundwork for cooperation in the investment area.

Director General for Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia Stanislav Rascan who is heading the Slovenian delegation views the current meeting of the commission an important instrument in outlining the most promising cooperation areas between the two states. He praised constantly growing mutual trade. Thus, in 2012 the trade between Belarus and Slovenia totaled $95.7 million, up 21.4% from the previous year. Belarusian exports went up by 13.1% to reach almost $13 million.

In January-October 2013 the mutual trade exceeded $84 million, going up 7.2% from the same period last year. In January-September 2013 the total volume of services made up $115.3 million, showing almost a 2.5-time increase from the same months a year ago. The growth was mainly secured through the implementation of a number of large-scale projects. Among them is the construction of the Kempinsky Hotel in Minsk, two power stations, and construction and upgrade of transformer substations.

According to Stanislav Rascan, Belarus and Slovenia have potential for strengthening cooperation. Among the promising areas is car industry, IT, energy, agriculture, tourism.