Vitebsk region intends to strengthen cooperation with Israel in the industrial and investment spheres

Contacts in the cultural sphere, based on common historical heritage, have been established and are actively developing between the Vitebsk region and Israel. This is a good benchmark for improving bilateral trade and economic interaction, promoting investment partnerships, which will allow the realization of the existing great potential for mutually beneficial cooperation aimed at improving people's well-being through joint projects in various industries.

This was stated by the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev, during a working meeting with the Chargé d'Affaires of the State of Israel to the Republic of Belarus, Olga Slov. As you know, a new ambassador of this Middle Eastern country was recently appointed, who may start working in Belarus within the next two months.

On the eve of this important event, the representative of the Israeli diplomatic mission intends to update information on the level of bilateral cooperation and new directions of economic ties so that the ambassador begins his activities in his new place of service not from scratch.

As Nikolai Sherstnev noted, our peoples have a lot in common in history, which serves as a basis for strengthening cultural interaction. Despite the high level of established creative ties, there are also opportunities for applying efforts in this area. In particular, proposals for participation in the development of projects related to the name of the artist Marc Chagall may be of interest to Israeli investors.
The Vitebsk region proposes to focus on strengthening contacts in the economic, and primarily industrial, as well as investment spheres in the development of bilateral cooperation.

– We set ourselves the task for the near future to double the production volumes of products, and we would be grateful if Israeli business circles help in the implementation of these plans, – noted Nikolai Sherstnev.

The head of the region included agriculture among the priority areas of business partnership. This concerns, in particular, the development of pig farming,

construction of dairy farms. For Vitebsk agrarians, the improvement of technologies to increase land use efficiency is of great interest, and in this area, Israeli specialists have something to learn from.

At the same time, the scope of business interaction is quite broad – from woodworking to the construction of a waste processing plant in the regional center. The head of the region dwelled on the latter proposal separately, as Israel has accumulated rich experience, has effective technologies in the field of waste management, and this issue is of particular relevance for Vitebsk, there is already a project and investor search is underway for its implementation.

This year, the mutual trade turnover between organizations of the Vitebsk region and Israel amounted to over 800 thousand dollars with a negative balance for the Belarusian side. This is not enough, the head of the region admitted, and expressed hope that with mutual interest in the development of cultural and economic contacts, our relations will receive a serious impetus for improvement. And it will be much easier to do this today in the conditions of a visa-free regime established between the countries.

On the same day, Olga Slov familiarized herself with the investment potential of the FEZ "Vitebsk", and also visited a number of cultural sites in the regional center.

Sergey Antonov. Photo by Dmitry OSIPOV. "Vitebskiye vesti".