On November 27-29, 2017, the Belarusian delegation paid a visit to Brazil under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Anatoly Kalinin. Within the framework of the visit, the first business forum "Brazil-Belarus" was held in São Paulo on November 29.
The business forum has become a significant event in the history of relations between the two countries, which is designed to give new impetus to strengthening mutually beneficial Belarusian-Brazilian cooperation in the trade and economic sphere, to bring bilateral cooperation to a qualitatively new level.
The event was attended by representatives of government bodies and business circles of the two countries. During the forum NAIP presented the investment climate and business conditions in Belarus, presentations of Belarusian enterprises and signing ceremony of a number of bilateral documents were.
"Recently the economy of Belarus has worked in the conditions of global deterioration of the external economic situation. Nevertheless, as a result of the adoption of strict measures in the sphere of monetary and budgetary policy, the country is provided with macroeconomic stabilization, there is an improvement in the economic balance, a stable recovery of economic activity and consolidation of the emerging positive trends in the economy, "Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Anatoly Kalinin said at the opening of the forum.
The Vice-Premier stressed that industry and agriculture are the most developed sectors of the Belarusian economy. Belarus is among the leaders – the world's exporters of potash fertilizers, trucks, tractors, road construction and communal equipment, and gradually takes an increasingly prominent position in the field of software development. The main services of Belarus in trade and economic cooperation with Brazil are maritime transport services.
"Belarus pays great attention to the development of agriculture – industry with great development potential. Belarus has good land resources. Belarus is one of the few countries in the world that produces simultaneously all three types of mineral fertilizers: nitrogen, phosphate and potash fertilizers, and also has the opportunity to bring them into the land in sufficient quantities, " said Denis Meleshkin, Acting Director of NAIP.
The real pride of Belarus today is the IT sector, he also stressed. "Belarus is known as a developer of professional software of broad functionality, which is created with the help of highly qualified specialists. Belarusian developers are famous for their accuracy in the work and the fulfillment of orders on time, as well as their creative approach to complex solutions, "he stated.
During the forum, experts stressed that in Belarus, on a systematic basis, work is under way to create the most favorable investment and business climate for attracting investors.
In addition, during the visit of the Belarusian delegation to Brazil, meetings were held with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, the Minister of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services of Brazil, the Governors of the Federal District, the Goiás and São Paulo States, and representatives of the Brazilian business. The first meeting of the Belarusian-Brazilian Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation was held.
"During the current visit, we have already agreed with our partners in the state of Goiás about the beginning of the substantive work of organizing there assembly production of tractors with the subsequent establishment of maintenance centers and a developed dealer network. We will also be very happy if representatives of other Brazilian states show their interest in mutually beneficial cooperation with Belarusian enterprises," Anatoly Kalinin said.
For reference: In 2016, the Belarusian-Brazilian commodity turnover exceeded 0.5 billion dollars. The basis of Belarus' exports to Brazil is traditionally made up of potash fertilizers - 99% of the total. The key position on imports from Brazil to Belarus is sugar. In addition to potash fertilizers, Belarus exports steel wire, nitrogen fertilizers, polycarboxylic acids, control and measuring devices, wire from ferrous metals, linen fabrics, liquid crystal devices and lasers, fiberglass, cotton fabrics to Brazil. The basis of Brazilian imports, in addition to sugar, are polymers of ethylene and propylene, cellulose, dyes, agricultural equipment and agricultural machinery.