OREANDA-NEWS. January 14, 2010. Belarus is interested in boosting the comprehensive cooperation with Poland, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Ivan Bambiza said at the second session of the joint Belarus-Poland Economic Cooperation Commission on 14 January.

“I am convinced that the Polish side shares our views. However concrete effective mechanisms are needed to achieve this goal, and the today’s session can be viewed as one of such tools,” Ivan Bambiza said.

The Vice-Premier noted that the year 2008 was successful for Belarus-Poland cooperation; the bilateral trade reached USD 3 billion. However, in January-November 2009 the trade halved down to USD 1.435 billion because of the global crisis. The export made up USD 732 million vs. USD 1.729 billion in the same period in 2008 (42.4%), the import made up USD 702.3 million or 66.8% as against the same period the year before.

“The level of trade and economic cooperation between our countries lags behind the true potential, a lot has to be done to step up cooperation in many areas,” Ivan Bambiza said. The commission is challenged with a task to analyze the problems impeding the development of Belarusian-Polish economic links, outline measures to reverse crisis trends. The sides will also discuss partnership in areas such as transportation, tourism, agriculture, power engineering and others. “We have recently advanced a lot in the political and economic dialogue; the meetings on the level of deputy premiers and foreign ministers have become regular. At the same time, we are still facing many challenges, like simplifying visa regulations. The agreement on cross-border travels which is being reconciled now, is aimed to solve this issue,” Ivan Bambiza said.

The Belarusian Vice-Premier underlined that the efficient cooperation between Belarus and Poland will be beneficial not only for businesses, but also for ordinary citizens.