Republic

Gomel, Siauliai to strengthen partnership business relations

GOMEL, 27 October (BelTA) – Regional cooperation between the Gomel oblast and Siauliai County of Lithuania is discussed today in Gomel, BelTA has learnt. A delegation of the Siauliai County led by chief of the regional administration Rimundas Domarkas met with chairman of the Gomel oblast executive committee Alexander Yakobson. The governor told the guests about the social and economic development of the Gomel oblast, the current state of affairs in the region. In January-August this year the trade between the Gomel oblast and Lithuania made up $50 million, with export accounting for 87%. The trade was down by 30% over the same period last year as the deliveries of oil products, ferrous metals and related products reduced. We have seen the trade fall not only with Lithuania but with other countries too, Alexander Yakobson told reporters. The region is implementing a set of measures to boost foreign trade, the governor said. “We invite over foreign business partners, travel to other regions,” he said. Delegations of the Gomel oblast have recently been to Moscow and Murmansk and will soon go to the Kaliningrad oblast. “This is the priority for the regional authorities to find the ways to sell the products which the region produces much more than it needs,” Alexander Yakobson said. According to him, there is a lot that Gomel can learn from Lithuania in tourism business. The two sides should meet more often and hold negotiations, the chairman added. Head of Siauliai County Rimundas Domarkas supported Alexander Yakobson and noted a necessity to develop cooperation in certain areas. He also pointed to an advantageous geographical position of Belarus and Lithuania in Europe. The Lithuanian delegation visited the 6th Business in the Region international exhibition/fair that opened in Gomel on 27 October. Gomel is also holding a Belarusian-Lithuanian business forum on 27 October. Partaking in it are heads of seven Lithuanian companies interested in establishing mutually beneficial cooperation with Belarusian companies. The Lithuanian delegation consists of representatives of the telecommunication and furniture producers, confectionaries, construction companies and agricultural producers, firms selling cosmetics and food additives. Gomel is holding the first forum of the kind. The forum has been organized by the Siauliai Chamber of Commerce and Industry which maintains close cooperation with the Gomel office of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. An agreement on cooperation in the trade, economic, sci-tech and cultural areas was signed by the Gomel oblast executive committee and the Siauliai County Administration in May 2007.

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