Belarus is negotiating with Belgium, Japan and France on the creation of a joint venture in the flax industry

March 29, Minsk / Olga Belyavskaya - BELTA /. Belarus is negotiating with Belgium, Japan and France on the creation of joint ventures in the flax industry. This was announced today to journalists by the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mikhail Rusy. The project of a comprehensive business plan for the development of the flax industry in Belarus in 2011-2015 was considered today at a meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, reports a BELTA correspondent. According to the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, foreign investors are showing active interest in the flax industry of Belarus. As an example, Mikhail Rusy cited plans for cooperation between Belarus and one of the Belgian companies. Belgian investors plan to invest in the processing of short flax fiber in Belarus, leading to a wide range of high-quality products from it. "Serious negotiations are also underway with Japan and France," the minister added. According to him, the growing interest of foreign investors in domestic flax enterprises is due to the reduction in export supplies of flax products to the world market. Belarus can only benefit from this situation by successfully promoting its own flax products. The main task to be accomplished is to ensure the supply of the required amount of long and short flax fiber to the Orsha flax mill, so that the enterprise can increase production volumes, expand the range of products manufactured and improve their quality. "Investors began to show serious interest in the last two months. This is due to the fact that flax production volumes have decreased in Europe," he added. Mikhail Rusy also drew attention to the fact that in many countries of the world, flax industry organizations receive state subsidies. For example, in Belgium, there are $800 of such subsidies per ton of flax fiber. At the same time, Belgian producers sell their products on foreign markets at world prices. The Orsha flax mill also receives state support, but sells its products much cheaper. "Therefore, the main thing is to correctly plan two centers in the flax industry - a profit generation center and a state support distribution center," the minister is confident. -0-