Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is expected to visit Azerbaijan in fall, Foreign Minister Vladimir Makey told reporters in Baku during a forum dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Azerbaijani-Belarusian diplomatic relations.

Makey said that exact dates will be agreed through diplomatic channels.

At the June 10 meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, the head of state issued instructions on the preparation of a number of promising projects on trade and economic cooperation, contributing to further broadening of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Belarus, the minister said.

"Specific projects are already available. These are a project on the creation of joint ventures, cooperation in various fields and development of agriculture. Currently, representatives of our relevant ministries and businesses are working very closely with their partners in Azerbaijan," Makey said.

The minister said the leadership of both countries has prevented the collapse of the economies of their countries and have managed to maintain and multiply their economic potential.

"Azerbaijan is a steadily developing country in the region. I think that our states are socially oriented. We have free education and medicine, the condition of socially vulnerable groups of the population is in the focus of attention of the governments," Makey said.

According to Makey, Azerbaijan and Belarus have always been at the center of the collision of the world's major forces and supported each other at these times.

"Azerbaijan can always rely on the support of Belarus," Makey said.

Makey offered Azerbaijani businessmen to establish joint ventures with their Belarusian counterparts and actively invest in the Belarusian economy.

However, Makey said that Belarus has no plans to attract credit resources from Azerbaijan in the near future.

"Earlier, when Belarus had certain difficulties associated with external economic challenges, our country appealed to Azerbaijan, which in a short time decided to grant us a relevant loan," he said.

Azerbaijan issued a $200 million to Belarus in 2010 to repay debt to Russian gas giant Gazprom.

According to statistics, in January-April 2013 the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $62.2 million, which is a 10.3 percent increase compared to the same period of 2012. The volume of export totaled $58 million (an increase of 12.6 percent) and import $4.2 million (down by 14.2 percent).

In 2012, the Belarusian-Azerbaijani trade turnover amounted to $223.3 million.

According to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, there is vast potential for the development of investment cooperation and for Azerbaijan's involvement in the projects implemented in Belarus.

Belarusian tractors, trucks, cranes, municipal equipment, optical equipment and elevators are assembled in Azerbaijan. The leader in the field of industrial cooperation is the Ganja automobile plant.

Belarus is interested in increasing the capacity of Belarusian assembly plants operating in Azerbaijan, as well as implementation of new projects in the construction sector, education, medicine, science, and culture.