BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/05/2008

Belarus central banker urges Israel investment

National Bank of Belarus chairman Petr Prokopovich: I see great potential for cooperation in banking.

Belarus is interested in economic cooperation with Israel, despite the unsatisfactory pace of development of ties between the two countries, National Bank of Belarus chairman Petr Prokopovich told Israeli channel RTVi .

Prokopovich said, "I see great potential for cooperation in banking. There are still no Israeli banks in Belarus, nor investors in this field. It pays to invest in banks in Belarus - all the branches of the foreign banks operating in Belarus are profitable and have become leaders in the banking system in which they operate. To sum up, the opportunities are many, and it would be a shame to lose them. We have been in contact with the Bank of Israel about providing the necessary contacts."

Prokopovich said tourism was another underdeveloped field. "I am referring here to tourist visits by Israelis to Belarus and vice versa. We can offer Israelis an opportunity to explore a different kind of countryside, and retrace the historic roots of the Jewish people and Zionism. Many Zionists were born in Belarus. I myself was born in the Brest province, home to many sites connected with Israel's history and the people who founded the State of Israel, among them the first President Chaim Weizmann. I believe many Israelis would be interested to see where the people, whose names they are familiar with from books and the streets named after them, were born and spent their childhood years."

Source:

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000346044&fid=942

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