Belarus expects trade with Egypt to reach $100 million in 2018. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Egypt Sergei Rachkov made the statement in an interview with the Middle East news agency MENA, BelTA has learned. As a result of the Belarus president's visit to Egypt in 2017 the bilateral trade turnover rose by 68.5 percent in comparison with 2016. In January-September 2018 Belarus-Egypt trade totaled $79 million, 25.8 percent up from the same period of last year. "We hope we will be able to go beyond $100 million this year," said Sergei Rachkov. Belarus' exports to Egypt include tractors, trucks, tires, metal products, optics, pumps, x-ray equipment, petrochemical, and woodworking products. The main imports from Egypt are citrus fruits, vegetables, plants used in perfumery and pharmaceutics, medications, tea, coffee, outerwear, and textiles. According to the source, manufacturing cooperation represents the core of Belarus-Egypt relations now. Belarus is interested in advancing cooperation with Egyptian firms in implementing projects, which are designed to create Egyptian trucks, tractors, harvesters, electric buses, and so on. The projects are expected to result in the establishment of enterprises to make these products through reliance on Belarusian expertise and technologies with a maximum rate of production localisation. Belarus-Egypt cooperation avenues also include such promising directions as woodworking, petrochemical industry, information, and communication technologies, science, and education. Sergei Rachkov said that the fifth session of the Belarus-Egypt intergovernmental commission will take place in Cairo on 28-29 November. Participants of the session are expected to discuss ways to advance cooperation in trade and investments, production sector, finance, information and communication technologies, woodworking, energy, science, education, environmental protection, sport, and tourism, healthcare and culture. "We intend to initial the roadmap on advancing Belarus-Egypt cooperation in 2019 as well as a number of memorandums on cooperation in standardisation and the joint production of motor vehicles," added the ambassador. Source: BELTA
