OREANDA-NEWS. March 23, 2010. Cooperation with the Brazilian State of Goias will help expand trade and economic ties with Brazil as a whole, said President Alexander Lukashenko in the course of his meeting with Governor Alcides Rodrigues Filho of the Brazilian State of Goias on 22 March.

The Belarusian Leader said he wanted to identify several main avenues of cooperation with Brazil.

"Brazil is a giant country on the global scale, and certainly we do not have intentions to develop all embracing cooperation with this country," said the Head of the Belarusian State. "To be honest with you, pursuing such ambitious plans may bring us to the point when we may find ourselves lost in this huge territory."

The main idea, according to the President, was to determine the main avenue of trade and economic cooperation. "We need to find an area of common interest in order to start cooperating, and then we could use this area as a jumping point for expanding our cooperation further as much as possible," said the Belarusian Leader. Belarus is lucky in this respect, he said. Belarus has plans to interact with one of Brazil's geographically huge states which population approaches 30 million, which has a huge gross domestic product and an advanced economy which needs the goods produced in Belarus.

Addressing the Governor of the State of Goias , Alexander Lukashenko said, "I hope that you will not simply assist us in establishing relations between your state and Belarus, but will also help us find our way in Brazil, lead us in the cooperation with your country." He assured the Brazilian Governor that the Belarusian side would fulfill all its obligations and address all problems should there appear any.