Makei hails momentum in Belarus-Israel relations

MINSK, 9 October (BelTA) - Belarus’ Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei is satisfied with the positive dynamism of the Belarusian-Israeli relations. Vladimir Makei made the statement while meeting with Israeli Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Yair Shamir on 9 October, BelTA has learnt.

“Belarus and Israel enjoy good friendly relations which have a long history. We are satisfied with positive dynamism in the Belarus-Israel relations but we think that their potential is not used to the fullest extent,” Vladimir Makei underlined. According to the Foreign Minister, in this connection Yair Shamir’s visit is important not only for agricultural cooperation but also for the sake of continuing a high-level bilateral political dialogue.

Vladimir Makei added that Belarus took a while to appoint the Ambassador to Israel. He expressed hope that this will open new opportunities for all-round cooperation between the two countries, which will foster the effective and progressive development of relations with Israel.

For his part, Yair Shamir thanked the Belarusian side for a warm welcome and expressed hope that his visit to Belarus will facilitate the development of relations in many areas, not only in agriculture. “Our states are not big but it often happens that the ties between such countries may be stronger than big ambitions of big states,” Yair Shamir noted.

Yair Shamir is in Belarus on a working visit from 8 to 10 October. He is set to hold talks with Belarusian Vice Premier Mikhail Rusyi and to meet top officials from the Agriculture and Food Ministry, the State Committee for Science and Technology, Belarusbank and the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee. The meetings will focus on the ways of consolidating cooperation between Belarus and Israel in the field of agriculture and on introducing innovative technologies into the Belarusian agricultural sector.