Around 120 participants gathered in Brest for the economic forum-workshop "Belarus — Central Asia: Pathways to Cooperation," BELTA reports.

The forum brought together business representatives and experts with experience working with countries of the Central Asian region across various fields. "The search for new markets and new niches is one of the key tasks. Speaking about Central Asia, it is hard to say it is a new market for Belarus. These are post-Soviet countries, CIS member states, and with several of them we are part of the Eurasian Economic Union. Attention to this region is growing, and not only from the Republic of Belarus, but also from other major players — from the West to China," noted Vitaly Vabishchevich, Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

According to him, the Central Asian countries, despite having much in common, differ from one another. They are attractive for cooperation and are developing dynamically. Investment growth is being observed there, and logistics routes are being developed. "Belarus's economy is complementary to that of the Central Asian countries. Our agricultural sector, machine-building industry, and IT sector are precisely what the Central Asian countries need and express interest in. And seemingly, the Russian language, understanding of the mentality of these states, and very long historical ties... On one hand, it all seems simple, but on the other hand, enterprises face many questions regarding operations in these markets," Vitaly Vabishchevich pointed out.

Forum participants will be briefed on the nuances of doing business in Central Asia and shown a clear pathway to entering the markets of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Experts will advise on choosing a niche, overcoming barriers, selecting partners, and achieving sustainable exports with minimal risks.

"The Central Asian region is demonstrating impressive rates of economic growth. This is a capacious, dynamically developing market that is of strategic interest to the Republic of Belarus as a whole and to the Brest region in particular. The figures confirm this. By the end of last year, Brest region's trade turnover with the Central Asian countries grew by 16%. Our key task is to build new, maximally effective vectors of cooperation in the sphere of trade, investment, and industrial cooperation," emphasized Mikhail Batsenko, Deputy Chairman of the Brest Regional Executive Committee.

The organizer of the event is the Brest branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the support of BelCCI.

BELTA

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