OREANDA-NEWS. July 07, 2011. Belarus’ governmental delegation led by Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich is expected to make an official visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The visit will be held on the invitation of the Azerbaijani side.

Belarusian Premier Mikhail Myasnikovich is set to meet with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Azerbaijan Prime Minister Artur Raiszade.

The sides are supposed to discuss a wide range of issues concerning bilateral relations including the prospects of attracting Azerbaijani investments in Belarus, expanding cooperation in petrochemistry, production cooperation, architecture and construction, sci-tech and education sectors.

The Belarusian delegation will take part in a ceremony of opening a line to assemble Belarus-German utilities equipment at the Ganja Auto Plant.

The parties are expected to sign a number of bilateral agreements. The issue of concluding contracts on delivery of MAZ, MTZ and photodiode equipment of Belarusian manufacture to Azerbaijan in H2 2011 is high on the agenda.

Belarus and Azerbaijan established diplomatic relations on 11 June 1993. Embassies were opened in Minsk and Baku in 2006. Bilateral contacts are actively developing at the level of the heads of state, governments and parliaments. In October 2006 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid an official visit to Belarus. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko went to Azerbaijan on a return visit in May 2007. The second official visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Belarus took place in November 2009, and in June 2010 President of Belarus in Azerbaijan paid a return visit, during which the two countries signed eight bilateral documents.

Trade and economic cooperation with Azerbaijan has been increasingly vibrant, which is due to several major contracts, including the one on the supply of Azeri oil to Belarus. In January-April 2011, trade between Belarus and Azerbaijan increased 7.7 times from the same period of 2010 to USD 448.2 million. Exports of Belarusian goods to Azerbaijan reached \\$88.8 million (up 59%).

Over the past five years, Belarusian exports to Azerbaijan have gone up 4 times reaching USD 140 million. The share of Belarusian goods in the Azerbaijani market rose from 1.96% in 2009 to 2.33% in 2010. In 2010, the Belarusian-Azerbaijani trade totaled \\$146.2 million (up 17.3%).

Belarus’ major exports to Azerbaijan are engineering products (tractors, trucks), food (dairy and confectionery), timber products (plywood, fiberboard, chipboard), products of the construction industry (glass ware, ceramic plates), medicines, household appliances (refrigerators, washing machines), petrochemical products (tires, ethylene polymers).

Belarus imports oil, juices, nuts, tobacco, textiles, alcohols, bentonite, aluminum oxides from Azerbaijan. The import of Azeri oil to Belarus that started in 2011 led to a significant increase in bilateral trade.

To date more than 300 Belarusian companies export their products to Azerbaijan. The country assembles Belarusian tractors, trucks, truck-mounted cranes, municipal vehicles, optical equipment and elevators. In 2010 assembly facilities accounted for about 50% of Belarusian exports to Azerbaijan. Ganja Automobile Plant is the leader in Belarus-Azerbaijan manufacturing cooperation. The countries reached agreements on the training of Azerbaijani students in Belarusian universities. Baku-Minsk flights operate regularly; information and communication projects are underway; the academies of sciences of the two states carry out joint research projects.

Promising cooperation avenues include the development of the manufacturing cooperation, cooperation in the agribusiness; supplies of buses, elevators, MAZ trucks, tractors and other farm machines, medicines, glassware; joint projects in the sci-tech field, education, transport, information and communication technologies, investment cooperation, leasing.