OREANDA-NEWS. May 26, 2011. Belarus and Ukraine intend to unite efforts for setting up transnational corporations, Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich said as he met with Prime Minister of Ukraine Nikolai Azarov.

Mikhail Myasnikovich stressed that the positions of Belarus and Ukraine largely coincide. He noted that the two countries enjoy close ties in trade. “We have learnt how to trade. The mutual trade is on a constant increase. We would like our trade cooperation reach a more advanced phase. I am confident we can implement large joint projects including such of transnational corporations,” the Belarusian Premier said.

“In this age of globalization when the world unites we need to think of products of tomorrow,” the Premier stressed.

According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, Belarus and Ukraine are well-positioned to make serious progress in the pharmaceutical industry. He stressed that in general there are many areas that the two countries could cooperate and implement big joint projects.

In turn, Nikolai Azarov supported the proposals by Mikhail Myasnikovich. "In order for our countries to develop meaningful large-scale cooperation, it is time we moved from the level of purely commercial relations to more serious cooperation," said Nikolai Azarov. For example, he proposed to establish a joint innovation center since Belarus and Ukraine have good achievements in science.

The Ukrainian Prime Minister also proposed to join efforts and enhance cooperation in such fields as pharmaceuticals, exploration and mining, agricultural machinery. “Earlier, Ukraine used to produce agricultural machinery and was self-sufficient in this area. It is good that Belarus has maintained this production,” Nikolai Azarov said and proposed to organize a joint project in agricultural engineering. According to him, Ukraine is ready to provide state support for this project.