Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus O.Kravchenko visits Norway

On January 28, 2020 Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Oleg Kravchenko, visited the Kingdom of Norway and took part in political consultations between the Belarusian Foreign Ministry and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. Previous round of consultations was held in December 2018 in Minsk.

The Norwegian delegation was led by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Audun Halvorsen.

During the consultations, the parties exchanged views on topical issues of the Belarusian-Norwegian relations, including the state and prospects for further development of the political dialogue as well as trade, economic and investment cooperation, the expansion of the legal framework, interaction in international organizations, primarily in the OSCE and the UN. The parties discussed topical issues of the regional agenda and international security, the development of relations with the European Union, the Council of Europe and third countries.

They noted recent significant intensification of the Belarusian-Norwegian cooperation, including in the sphere of trade. The parties pointed out the mutually beneficial and balanced nature of the trade turnover, emphasized the intention to work together in order to solve emerging challenges, as well as to pursue opportunities of expanding cooperation.

Taking into account the recent signing of the agreements between Belarus and the European Union on visa facilitation and readmission, the parties agreed to negotiate the same treaties between Belarus and Norway in the shortest possible time. Both sides also welcomed the focused effort of the relevant authorities of the two countries to conclude an agreement on cooperation between nuclear watchdogs of Belarus and Norway.

Ahead of the consultations, O.Kravchenko delivered a speech at the Belarusian-Norwegian Business Breakfast. The main topic of the event, organized with assistance of the IBA Group, was export of the Belarusian IT services to Norway. The meeting was attended by about 50 representatives of business community of Norway, including the head of the Norwegian Investment Fund for North-West Russia and Eastern Europe. A ceremony of signing of the protocol on cooperation between the Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation and the Norwegian company “Nordic Molecule Group AS” in the sphere of production and distribution of fish feed and other biotechnological products was held in presence of the Deputy Foreign Minister and Ambassadors of two countries.

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