OREANDA-NEWS. September 07, 2009. Belarus is ready to cooperate with Slovak businessmen in all the areas: from banking sector to industry to agriculture, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Slovakia Miroslav Lajcak on 7 September.

“We are interested in the close bilateral cooperation with no strings attached. You should find your niche through the competition and Belarus can offer plenty of opportunities for cooperation,” the President said.

The Belarusian leader believes that Belarus has an edge over other countries, “We have created sound competition in the investment area. I will not talk about the investment appeal or call you to do something. Business people know the climate here very well.” Beginning 1 January 2010 when “a powerful triumvirate in the form of the Customs Union is created”, it will be even more economically advantageous to work with Belarus, the President said.

One of the advantages of our country, according to Alexander Lukashenko, is fair treatment of investors and business people in general, the fulfillment of all obligations. “If we make arrangements, we honour our commitments. There is nothing to find fault with here. “Businessmen do not like so-called bogus democracy,” the head of state added.

Businessmen from many countries have opened their businesses in Belarus. “There are factors that demonstrate that it is possible to work here,” the President underlined.

The Slovak Foreign Minister said that one of the purposes of his visit to Belarus is to discuss relations between the EU and Belarus. According to him, Slovakia tries to influence the EU stance towards Belarus. Miroslav Lajcak welcomed Belarus’ accession to the Eastern Partnership project which offers new opportunities for the bilateral integration. Now the sides should work on developing concrete projects within this programme.