OREANDA-NEWS  On 04 December was announced, that French businesses will pay a visit to Belarus in January 2009, Philippe Citerne, co-chief executive officer, Societe Generale, said during his meeting with Belarus’ Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky in Minsk.

“I am here in Minsk as a representative of MEDEF [France’s largest union of employers – the Mouvement des Entreprises de France] in charge of relations with Russia and Belarus. I will be back in January to coordinate negotiations between French and Belarusian businesses,” Citerne said.

He said Societe Generale’s message to foreign investors during the visit was “the company [Societe Generale] works in Belarus and invites them to come to Belarus.”

Sidorsky noted that “volumes of trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and France have fallen due to objective and subjective reasons.”

Belarus has been doing its best for mutual relations to develop successfully, Sidorsky added.