BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

21/07/2007

Oman named as most important partner of Belarus in Middle East

by Tarique

By NNN-BELTA

Minsk : Oman is one of the most important partners of Belarus in the Middle East, Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Gennadiy Novitskiy said at a meeting with Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman on Friday.

"We are interested in stepping up the contacts," he said.

Gennadiy Novitskiy stressed, the official visit of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to Oman in April 2007 gave a major impetus to the bilateral relations. Top-level meetings held during the visit showed that the potential of the bilateral cooperation is great.

According to the Speaker, maintaining a regular top-level dialogue between the two countries is an important component of relations between the two states.

Gennadiy Novitskiy also noted, the proximity of Belarus and Oman's views on most pressing global political issues favours the fruitful cooperation of the two countries in the international arena, including cooperation within the framework of international organisations.

He expressed gratitude to Oman for supporting Belarus during elections to ECOSOC 2006 and the UN Human Rights Council for the term 2007-2010.

The Speaker expressed confidence the visit of the minister of the Sultanate of Oman will become another major landmark in the dynamic development of the bilateral relations.

In turn, Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah informed, Oman is ready to advance cooperation with Belarus.

"Since the arrival we have felt we are amongst friends. It is very important for the promotion of relations," he said. The Minister also stated, the visit of President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to Oman, which took place in the year of the 15th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries "opened doors for the development of across-the-board cooperation".

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is the chief body in charge of coordinating economic, social and other related activities of the United Nations Organisation as well as specialised institutions known as "the family of UN organisations".

ECOSOC includes 54 members elected for a three-year term by the UN General Assembly. Eighteen ECOSOC members are elected every year for a three-year term. ECOSOC is authorised to carry out and arrange researches, compile reports concerning international economic and social issues, cultural, educational, healthcare issues and adjacent areas of interest or to encourage others to do it. ECOSOC can also give recommendations concerning any of these issues to the UN General Assembly, UN members and interested specialised institutions.

The Human Rights Council is an auxiliary body of the United Nations Organisation. It was founded in 2006 to replace the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Source:

http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/jul/21/oman_named_most_important_partner_belarus_middle_east.html