Belarus-Finland economic forum possible in April 2014

MINSK, 23 November (BelTA) – Efforts to intensify Belarus-Finland economic cooperation were discussed during a visit of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Lithuania and Finland on concurrent Mr Vladimir Drazhin to Finland’s Turku, BelTA learned from the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus.

The Turku city hall hosted a seminar attended by municipal authorities of the southwestern region of Finland, representatives of the association of Partner Universities of the Baltic Sea Region, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turku. “The participants of the meeting were informed about the economic situation in Belarus and ways to boost cooperation with Finland, a key partner of our country in Northern Europe. An agreement was reached with the municipal authorities of Turku to hold the fourth Belarus-Finland economic forum in 2014 involving municipal authorities and the academic community of the region,” the Foreign Ministry informed.

The Belarusian diplomat held a meeting with the Director of the NGO Centrum Balticum and Pan-European Institute, top officials of the Secretariat of the Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) Commission on Environment (EnvCom). The participants of the meeting discussed ways to intensify implementation of environmental projects in Belarus. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry noted that the Commission of the Union of the Baltic Cities and the John Nurminen Foundation implement two projects in Belarus: PRESTO “Project on Reduction of the Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea Today” (international technical aid for the project is estimated at €2.5 million) and PURE “Project on Urban Reduction of Eutrophication” (€400,000).

Vladimir Drazhin delivered a lecture for students about investment opportunities of Belarus in view of the bilateral cooperation with Finland and Lithuania and answered questions of the audience.