Belarus, Russia’s Perm Krai outline new avenues of cooperation

“Our enterprises do not interact actively enough yet. Our trade is quite vibrant, we rushed to take up the niches vacated by Western companies who left the country in the wake of sanctions. Therefore, we started trading in many more products, including both industrial goods and foodstuffs, as well as building materials. But it is important to move to the next stage: if we want to hit $0.5 billion in trade in the medium term, we need closer cooperation,” said Dmitry Krutoi.

According to him, the meeting focused on revitalizing the machine tool industry, which includes joint vocational training projects. “Perm Krai is now studying the possibilities of Belarusian machine tool companies,” the diplomat noted.

Speaking about cooperation in the forestry sector (reforestation and processing, supplies of logging equipment), the ambassador said that cooperation with Perm Krai is supervised by Belarus’ Forestry Ministry. The parties agreed to step up work of the joint working group, and to send a Belarusian delegation to the All-Russia Forestry Forum that will be held in Perm in September.

Cooperation in the construction sector was discussed separately at the negotiations. Dmitry Krutoi noted that Perm Krai is set to build a number of industrial facilities and undertake other construction projects. “By the time the governor will come to Minsk, we need to think of pilot projects where Belarusian construction companies can participate, this includes social infrastructure, industrial facilities and housing,” he remarked.

The governor went on saying that the direct flight between Perm and Minsk also contributes to cooperation. “It is actively used for business and tourist trips by residents of the Kama region,” the governor said.

During the working trip to Perm on 16-17 May, the ambassador of Belarus visited the high-tech technopark Morion Digital, Perm Pulp and Paper Company, the trade and service base of Perm MTS  and other enterprises.