BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/04/2006

Belarus PM Stresses Cuba Ties

Minsk, Apr 19 (Prensa Latina) Belarus Prime Minister Serguei Sidorski said Cuba represents an important reliable partner on political and economic matters in the western hemisphere.

Interviewed by Prensa Latina on Tuesday, Sidorski alluded to the state of bilateral relations and said Belarus is a strategic ally for the island.

"There are political links and coinciding points of view," stated the Russian high official, "around key international problems."

He also mentioned how Belarus and Cuba actively help each other at the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement and other international organizations.

Sidorski stated that the strategic alliance was created in 2000 during President Lukashenko's visit to Havana, shortly before kicking off his second mandate.

Sidorski noted that there are so far 17 inter-government and inter-department agreements between the two countries in trade, economy, public health, certifications and consular relations and both nations will sign seven international protocol agreements in a few days.

In the past years of trade exchange, there has been an important trend to increase Belarussian exports of highly complex technological products.

For the first time, in 2005 the country delivered to Cuba MAZ, MoAz and BELAZ vehicles.

The structure of Cuban exports to that country is being modified, and instead of sugar there are other new goods like medicine and biotechnological products.

"One of the aims of an imminent visit is to foster Belarus statutes as a privileged Cuban partner and the creation of additional conditions to continue a more dynamic bilateral trade," Sodorski said.

Source:

http://www.plenglish.com/Article.asp?ID=%7BD5CC61C5-ABFF-4343-B67C-27A237662D72%7D&language=EN