Lukashenko: Belarus's cooperation potential with Tatarstan is colossal

The potential for cooperation between Belarus and Tatarstan is colossal. This was stated by the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting with the Head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

"I am sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, glad to welcome you in Belarus, in Minsk. You are true friends of the Belarusian people. I have long been observing with interest the development of your region. The successes are impressive and inspire us to even more active work with Kazan," Alexander Lukashenko emphasized. "Moreover, we have developed very businesslike, productive relations, and the potential of our ties is colossal."

The Head of State admitted that he was always amazed at how similar the Tatarstan land is to Belarus. "If I didn't know that you were flying over Tatarstan, I would have thought that it was one-to-one the nature of our Belarus," he stated.

Recently, a Belarusian delegation led by Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko visited Tatarstan. The sides identified specific areas of cooperation.

About 50% of the trade turnover between Minsk and Kazan today is ensured by petrochemicals. "Therefore, the growth of trade volumes in 2022 by more than 5%, to one billion dollars, is a good indicator. But it does not fully reflect our capabilities," said the President. "Our petrochemicals are just one direction. Therefore, you did the right thing by not limiting yourselves only to petrochemicals when developing a cooperation plan."

Alexander Lukashenko stressed that the parties must expand the range of mutual supplies, enhance cooperation, and establish joint ventures at all costs. "If you have any interests, we will certainly work in this direction," the President assured. "The field of information technology and the digital economy opens up great opportunities. You know our capabilities. If we cooperate here together with you, we will also achieve good long-term results."

The head of state also noted the high level of humanitarian cooperation between Belarus and Tatarstan. According to him, the high level of interest among the residents of Tatarstan in events held within the framework of the Days of Belarusian Culture in 2022 confirms the importance of cultural exchanges, preservation of the traditions of our peoples, and, of course, shared historical memory. "We will gladly host the reciprocal Days of Culture of your republic in our country," Alexander Lukashenko stated.

The President also thanked the head of Tatarstan for the warm reception and support provided to the Belarusian team in Kazan during the International "Friendship Games" last year. "We will not remain in your debt," he emphasized.

The head of state concluded that the list of areas for cooperation between the parties is limitless. Alexander Lukashenko is confident that the current visit of the Tatarstan delegation will be highly productive and will allow significantly surpassing today's trade turnover figures. "After all, our capabilities are colossal," the Belarusian leader summarized.

Source: belta.by