A. Lukashenko has embarked on an official visit to Turkmenistan

April 27, Minsk / Tatyana Polezhay - BELTA /. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has departed on an official visit to Turkmenistan, the press service of the Belarusian leader informed BELTA. It is expected that the heads of the two states will hold talks in Ashgabat in narrow and expanded formats. The focus will be on issues of developing trade and economic cooperation between the countries and the implementation of major joint projects. According to the results of 2010, Turkmenistan ranks eighth in the volume of Belarus's foreign trade with CIS countries and seventh in export volume to these countries. Trade between Belarus and Turkmenistan has doubled over the past five years, driven by high growth rates of Belarusian exports, the volume of which significantly exceeds imports. Bilateral trade is characterized by a stable positive balance for Belarus. According to the results of 2010, the volume of bilateral trade amounted to $90.7 million and increased by 21.1% compared to 2009. Exports grew by 19.3% and amounted to $87.2 million. The positive balance was about $83.6 million. In January-February 2011, the volume of bilateral trade amounted to $16 million and increased 3.1 times compared to the corresponding period in 2010. Exports grew 3.2 times and exceeded $15 million. Belarus exports predominantly high value-added goods to Turkmenistan: tractors, road construction equipment, soil cultivation machinery, trucks, tires, products of the woodworking industry, medicines, and food products. The main imports from Turkmenistan include cotton yarn and fiber, raw wool, and bed linen. Belarus and Turkmenistan are implementing a major project worth over $1 billion to create a mining and processing plant for the production of potash fertilizers. -0-