The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, the Co-Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission on cooperation Ihor Kalyetnik held the Fourth meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission on cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus on Tuesday
12 November 2013, 11:30
The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, the Co-Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission on cooperation Ihor Kalyetnik held the Fourth meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission on cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus on Tuesday.
According to the First Deputy Chairman of the Parliament, the meeting agenda includes two main items: development of bilateral trade and economic relations between our countries, and development of inter-regional and cross-border cooperation.
‘I think that one of the present-day important issues is the discussion of trade and economic cooperation between Ukraine and Belarus, particularly in the context of integration processes in which both of our countries participate,’ claimed I. Kalyetnik.
He informed that for 9 months of this year, the volume of trade between the two countries has reached almost USD 5 bln., in 2012 – almost USD 8 bln.
In this
context, I. Kalyetnik stressed that ‘cooperation development with the Customs
Union member-states still is very important for us.’ ‘This means that Ukraine’s
economic interests have a broad geography and the basis of these interests
should be economic pragmatism built on the principles of mutual respect,’ he
added.
I.Kalyetnik expressed conviction that there is significant potential for the development of trade relations between Ukraine and the Republic of Belarus. According to him, “low figures of mutual investment – USD 5 million into the economy of Belarus and USD 83 million into the economy of Ukraine” testifies to this fact. He stressed that efficient use of transit potential of our states, as well as deepening of scientific and productive cooperation are also strategic tasks. “These directions are determined to be top priority ones for bilateral cooperation at the highest level, and their implementation will allow to more fully use our opportunities to further boost bilateral trade.
Meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission on cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus takes place in Kyiv on November 12. Belarusian delegation is headed by the Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Anatoly Rusetsky.
Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of both countries, the people’s deputies and members of the Cabinet of Ministers participated in the work of the Fourth meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission on cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus.