Assad: the visit of the Belarusian delegation to Syria is very important for us

November 24, Minsk. The visit of the Belarusian delegation to Syria is very important for us. This was stated by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a meeting with Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, BelTA has learned.

"Your visit is very important for us. This is just the beginning. During these two days we have signed quite a lot of agreements. I believe that it is necessary to concentrate on a few major ones and achieve their substantive implementation," Bashar al-Assad said.

According to the President of Syria, unfortunately, so far the parties have not managed to achieve great complementarity in the economies of the two countries. At the same time, Syria and Belarus have great potential for strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation. "We also appreciate the great support that Belarus provides to Syria in our struggle," he said.

Trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and Syria is developing against the backdrop of difficult conditions of economic sanctions against Syria, the destruction of transport and social infrastructure, an acute shortage of financial resources from the Syrian government and a decrease in the purchasing power of the population. In 2021, the trade turnover between Belarus and Syria amounted to $8.2 million (an increase of 41.3% compared to 2020), exports - $7.6 million (an increase of 47.9%), imports - $0.6 million (an increase of 6. 1%). Positive balance - $7 million.

Belarus mainly exports specific goods to Syria, milk powder , whey, medicines, tractors and truck tractors, and imports olive oil, fruits and vegetables, nuts, coffee. There is also a joint Belarusian-Syrian commission on trade, economic and technical cooperation, the last meeting of which was held in January of this year.