The potential of Belarus-Iran economic relations is still untapped, Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Viktor Guminsky said, as he met with head of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly Friendship Group with the National Assembly of Belarus Ali Qaedi on Tuesday.
Viktor Guminsky expressed confidence that this year’s visit of Iran’s parliamentary delegation would promote further development of comprehensive cooperation.
“Despite the policy of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran from the United States and western countries, we have preserved friendly relations at every level. Your visit shows that we continue developing these relations,” he said.
“The potential of the Belarusian-Iranian cooperation is still hugely untapped. The focus should be placed on trade and economic cooperation and the increase of bilateral trade,” Belarusian News reported.
Qaedi stressed that both the parliament and the government of Iran are interested in strengthening cooperation with Belarus. In his words, Belarus occupies a special place in Iran’s foreign policy.
“We view your country as a friendly state and trust you. There are plenty of opportunities that we should make use of and there are no obstacles to develop relations between our countries,” he said.
Annual bilateral trade has been standing at $100 million in recent years. A number of Iranian companies are engaged in the implementation of investment projects in Belarus, including the construction of the multipurpose hotel and business center Minsk Magnet, the transport and logistics center Prilesie in FEZ Minsk and the multipurpose public and business center Chervensky.
Belarus and Iran closely cooperate at the parliamentary level and have groups of inter-parliamentary cooperation. The two countries interact in scientific personnel training and cooperate in joint scientific projects in medicine, education, nano and bio-technologies.
