Belarusian diplomats working on full lifting of U.S. sanctions - diplomat
MINSK. July 13 (Interfax) - Belarusian diplomats are working on the full lifting of U.S. sanctions, and exports of Belarusian services to the United States may reach $500 million by the year-end, Belarusian Charge D'Affaires to the United States Pavel Shidlovsky said in Minsk on Thursday, before a meeting between the heads of Belarusian missions to foreign countries and businessmen.
"The normalization process has been evolving for the past few years but it has not passed the point of no-return. Certain stereotypes remain, although the sides are advancing towards one another. The U.S. sanctions have yet to be fully lifted. For now they are suspended for Belneftekhim enterprises. We are working on the complete lifting of those sanctions," Shidlovsky said.
The atmosphere of bilateral relations has improved, which makes it possible to develop cooperation in a number of areas, such as trade, economic affairs and investments, he said.
"Belarusian exports to the United States demonstrated a good, upward trend in the first five months of this year. The exports grew by 2.5 times to practically $80 million," Shidlovsky said.
"Exports of services to the United States have also been growing rapidly. First of all, these are computer services rendered by residents of the High-Tech Park. A growth of approximately 20% has been posted. We will be able to export $500 million worth of services to the United States in 2017 if the dynamics of the first five months persists," Shidlovsky said.
About 95% of exported services are information technologies, 95% of which are provided by the High-Tech Park. The exports of Belarusian services to the United States stood at $410 million last year, he said.
According to the diplomat, Belarus continues to establish a dialogue with the new U.S. presidential administration.
"A Belarusian deputy foreign minister has visited the United States, and political consultations have been held with the Department of State. Positive contacts with the Department of State and other entities have been ongoing. The United States supports Belarus' sovereignty, and the backing of economic independence is an integral part of this support," Shidlovsky said.
As to entry of Belarusian companies to the U.S. stock market after EPAM Systems, the diplomat said the possibility was not being discussed for now.
"Other IT companies are not being considered. What EPAM Systems has done is rather an exception. This is a major IT company. However, a general trend in IT services' exports to the United States is positive. We are gaining around 20-25% per annum. An increasing number of companies are coming to the U.S. market. These companies are focused on the creation of their own software rather than outsourcing," Shidlovsky said.
This area has been rapidly expanding, he said.
The first Belarusian National Exhibition in the history of Belarusian-U.S. relations held in Miami several weeks ago is a good example, Shidlovsky said. "The exhibition showed that U.S. companies, IT firms, the business community, and the administrations of leading universities are interested in starting cooperation with Belarus in the IT area," he said.