OREANDA-NEWS. October 21, 2010. President Alexander Lukashenko met with President Dalia Grybauskaite of the Republic of Lithuania who will come to Belarus on a working visit.

The President of Belarus made two official visits to Lithuania, in 1995 and 2009. In September 2009, during a visit to Vilnius, the Head of State invited the President of Lithuania to come to Belarus on a return visit.

Lithuania is an important trade and economic partner of Belarus. In the crisis year of 2009 the bilateral trade amounted to USD 565.6 million, or 66.3 per cent as against the 2008 level. In January-August 2010 the trade rose by 25.2 per cent from the same period in 2009 and came to USD 418.9 million, with Belarus' exports increasing by 32 per cent (USD 280 million) and imports by 13.4 per cent (USD 138.9 million). Belarus' trade surplus was USD 141.2 million (a 57.5 per cent rise).

Lithuanian business has invested a total of more than USD 150 million in the Belarusian economy, including USD 16.3 million in 2008, USD 33 million in 2009 and USD 15.4 million in January-June 2010. These investments were mostly channeled into construction of trade, cultural and recuperation facilities, hotel complexes, and the development of the transport and logistic network.

There are 410 joint Belarusian-Lithuanian businesses in Belarus and over 200 joint Belarusian-Lithuanian businesses in Lithuania.