Participants of the First Forum of Regions of Belarus and Kyrgyzstan identify priority areas of cooperation

On November 10, the First Forum of the Regions of Belarus and Kyrgyzstan was held in Minsk. The event is of great importance for the development of bilateral relations, as it will strengthen the Belarusian-Kyrgyz interregional cooperation and bring it to a qualitatively new level.

The theme of the plenary session of the forum is “Regional interaction – the driver of the economy of Belarus and Kyrgyzstan”. As Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Alexander Terekhov noted, all participants of the event have one goal in common – expanding mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation through the development of industrial cooperation, diversification of trade, creating a barrier-free environment for business circles:

I am convinced that the First Forum of Regions of Belarus and Kyrgyzstan will become the starting point for a new stage of direct cooperation between our regions and cities. It is at this level that the most practical and sustainable cooperation mechanisms can be formed, which can give our countries new investment projects, production ties and concrete results for our citizens. Today we are faced with the task of identifying new points of growth of Belarusian-Kyrgyz cooperation. Priority areas should be joint production and exchange of technologies, cooperation in industry, agriculture, processing of raw materials, construction, municipal infrastructure and many other areas of direct importance for the sustainable development of our countries. Alexander Terekhov noted that in this regard, it is necessary to focus on several practical priorities:

- First, it is necessary to intensify direct contacts between the regions and ensure regular exchange of information on free production sites, investment proposals and needs of enterprises. Secondly, each region needs to develop a list of joint projects that can be launched in the near future. Third, it is important to create an effective mechanism for supporting the investor. A potential partner should understand who to contact, what documents to prepare, what support measures are available and what steps need to be taken to launch the project. Fourth, special attention should be paid to training.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that modern production is impossible without engineers, technologists, service specialists, managers and highly qualified workers. Therefore, it is necessary to establish effective cooperation in the field of education on training and advanced training of specialists, as well as modernization of engineering and technical education. According to him, Belarus is interested in expanding contacts between enterprises, regions and business communities.

In turn, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Erlist Akunbekov said that the Kyrgyz side considers interregional cooperation as an important area of bilateral cooperation, the potential of which has yet to be fully disclosed: Our common task is to fill it with specific projects that correspond to the priorities of the roadmap for the development of trade and economic cooperation until 2030. Interregional partnership already has a solid contractual basis, uniting Grodno and Jalal-Abad, Minsk and Chui, Mogilev and Naryn, Brest and Batken, as well as Vitebsk and Issyk-Kul regions. The first forum is designed to give these relations an additional impetus and become a permanent platform for dialogue between regional authorities, business circles and organizations of our countries.

The forum is organized by the National Export Support Center of Belarus and the Ministry of Economy and Commerce of Kyrgyzstan. At the First Forum of Regions of Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, a number of documents were signed, including memorandums of understanding between the regions of the two countries, agreements on cooperation in trade, economic, scientific, technical and social spheres.

kryzhevich@sb.by