Vitebsk and the Italian city of Brescia plan to develop cooperation in economic and social spheres

October 20, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. Vitebsk and the Italian city of Brescia plan to develop cooperation in the trade, economic, social and cultural spheres. A preliminary agreement on this was reached during the visit of a delegation from the Vitebsk region to the Italian province of the same name from October 11 to 15, the Vitebsk branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry informed a BELTA correspondent. During the negotiations between the leadership of the regional executive committee and the prefecture of the Italian city, it was noted that Vitebsk and Brescia have significant potential for interaction in the cultural and social spheres, the development of tourist contacts, and cooperative ties between enterprises. This creates an interesting and mutually beneficial basis for promising cooperation, the impetus for which could be the signing of a relevant agreement between the cities. Representatives of the regional executive committee and the prefecture agreed to work on this issue and reach the signing of the document in the first half of 2011 during the planned return visit of the Italian delegation to Vitebsk. The main topic of the visit of the Belarusian delegation was the presentation of the economic opportunities of Vitebsk and the Vitebsk region, as well as the discussion of promising areas of interaction both between enterprises and between cities and regions of the Belarusian and Italian regions. The delegation included heads of the region and enterprises interested in developing business contacts with Italian enterprises in various fields. During the trip, meetings were held with the heads of the prefecture and province, as well as representatives of the Lombardy region, which administratively includes the province of Brescia. The business part of the visit program included business meetings between Vitebsk and Italian enterprises at the chambers of commerce and industry of the cities of Mantua and Brescia. Following the negotiations, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Vitebsk branch of the BelCCI and the Association of Chambers of Commerce of Central European Countries (ACCOA), which will contribute to the formation of a favorable environment for finding business partners, establishing contacts between Belarusian and Italian enterprises, and expanding economic cooperation between the regions of the two countries. In addition, preliminary agreements were reached on cooperation in the tourism sector. The Vitebsk delegation also showed interest in implementing Italian technologies in the utility infrastructure of the cities of the Vitebsk region, as well as for processing by-products of production into energy resources. Enterprise managers got acquainted with the possibilities of interaction with Italian partners in the modernization and technical re-equipment of production complexes. The visit was organized by the regional executive committee, the Vitebsk branch of the BelCCI, and the Association of Chambers of Commerce of Central Europe (ACCOA). The province of Brescia is located in the northern part of Italy, its area is over 4.7 thousand sq. km, and its population is over 1.1 million people. The main types of activity are agricultural production (olives and olive oil, wine), production of vehicles, lifting and handling equipment; the metallurgical and textile industries, energy, production of building materials, and arms production are developed in the province. -0-