Belarus determined to develop industrial cooperation with Egypt - Lukashenko
MINSK. Feb 19 (Interfax) - Belarus is interested in developing industrial cooperation with Egypt and together entering the markets of third countries of Africa, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.
"I am convinced that the development of industrial cooperation fully meets the interests of the two countries and will enable them to enter the markets of neighboring African countries, which is very important to us. God grant us to develop the 100-million strong Egyptian market. From Cairo, we work together practically on the whole of northern Africa and are considering options for jointly moving further across the continent," the Belarusian press service quoted Lukashenko as saying following negotiations with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo on Wednesday.
Belarus sees good potential for cooperation in innovations, high-tech, science, and education, Lukashenko said. "Therefore, we are focused on promoting high-tech products in Egypt and then setting up joint ventures. This approach has shown its efficiency," Lukashenko said.
Cooperation in the security and information technology field, including modern public security systems, has good prospects, he said.
Belarus is also willing to supply modern medical equipment and food products to Egypt, Lukashenko said.
In general, cooperation between Belarus and Egypt has "great prospects," he said. "We have significantly moved ahead in our cooperation of late. A permanent dialogue between Minsk and Cairo facilitates this. We don't have taboo subjects, and the [Egyptian] president and I discuss all issues substantively and openly. Our negotiations today were exactly such," Lukashenko said.
Lukashenko said the two leaders attached primary significance to trade-economic ties. "I am delighted to note that we have generally honored agreements on interaction in this field, and both Belarus and Egypt have employed all possible efforts to this end," he said.
In particular, Belarus and Egypt have achieved quite good results together in the industrial, military-technical, agricultural, scientific, and humanitarian fields, Lukashenko said.