Economic interaction will become a strategy for further cooperation among the participants of the Euroregion "Lake Land".

May 19, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Economic cooperation will form the basis of the next agreement on cross-border cooperation of the Euroregion "Lake Land". Its signing will take place on May 20 in Polotsk at the 25th meeting of the Euroregion Council, Nina Puchinskaya, a member of the Euroregion Council and Chairperson of the Braslav District Council of Deputies, told a BELTA correspondent. At the council meeting, it is planned to approve the updated regulations of the Euroregion and sign the agreement on cross-border cooperation. According to Nina Puchinskaya, the strategic areas of cooperation between the participants of "Lake Land" will remain education, culture, healthcare, tourism, environmental protection, support for small businesses, and economic cooperation. In addition, participants of the meeting will learn about the implementation of the Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus cross-border cooperation program, discuss the prospects for small cross-border movement, and get acquainted with Polotsk's experience in implementing international projects. The first regulation on the Council for Cross-border Cooperation of Border Regions of Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia was signed on September 4, 1998, in Braslav, and in January 1999 in Ignalina (Lithuania), the Council was granted the status of a Euroregion. The Euroregion includes: Braslav, Verkhnedvinsk, Miory, Postavy and Glubokoe districts, the city of Polotsk (Belarus); Daugavpils, Krāslava, Preiļi and Rēzekne districts, including the cities of Daugavpils and Rēzekne (Latvia); Zarasai, Ignalina, Utena and Švenčionys districts, including the city of Visaginas (Lithuania). The area of the Euroregion is 21.9 thousand sq. km, with a population of over half a million people. During the existence of the Euroregion, more than a million projects have been implemented in the territories. For example, in the Glubokoe district, as part of the "Development of a network of cycling routes in the Baltic Lake Land" project, cycling tourist routes have been created, and a project for the development of cycling tourist routes has been implemented. Annually, the folk art festivals "Dzvina - Daugava - Dvina" are held. -0-