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Foreign Minister Martynaw meets with heads of Belarus' diplomatic missions

Foreign Minister Syarhey Martynaw on July 23 held a concluding meeting with the heads of Belarus' diplomatic missions abroad who had been brought together in Minsk earlier this month for an annual series of seminars and conferences, BelaPAN reports.

As many as 45 heads of diplomatic missions attended the seminars and conferences, which began on July12.

While in Minsk, the ambassadors heard lectures and reports by ministers and other high-ranking economic officials about the government’s policies and steps to ensure an innovation path of development for the Belarusian economy, strengthen the transit potential of Belarus, supply the country’s needs for foreign investment, and move Belarusian knowledge-intensive and high-technology products to foreign markets.

Under discussion were possible ways and methods of ensuring the energy security of the country, increasing the export potential of the country’s Free Economic Zones, and strengthening Belarusian exporters’ positions in foreign markets.

For Belarus, it is a high priority to float shares of Belarusian companies in international capital markets, noted Alyaksandr Mikhnevich, the Belarusian ambassador to the United Kingdom. “The London securities market is a leading global market,” he said. “In order to enter the market, we should obtain an indicator, which could be the rates of the government’s Eurobonds. And when we have them carrying any interest rate, this will mean that shares of our companies will be quoted.”

As for the recent denial of visas for a group of Belarusian children who were thereby deprived of the opportunity to have respite holidays in the UK, the ambassador said, “We’ve signed an agreement with Britain under which the British party has a very serious responsibility for the safety of our children in the country. And the UK Border Agency took a very serious approach to meeting these conditions. They thoroughly checked on the families that were to host our children. As a result of that check, they apparently found out that the families were not prepared enough for that. I’m far from commenting on the decision of the British party. The only thing I consider necessary to say is that it’s important not to go to extremes. In any case, our children should be well-protected on the territory of Britain.”

Andrey Hrynkevich, the Stockholm-based Belarusian ambassador to Sweden, Denmark and Norway, told BelaPAN that Sweden advocates the maximum possible liberalization of the visa regime for Belarus and equal visa fees for the citizens of all countries in the European region.

According to Mr. Hrynkevich, Belarusian embassy officers in Sweden have recently met with Goran Lenmarker, chairperson of the Swedish parliament’s international affairs committee, who confirmed his readiness to cooperate with the Belarusian authorities with regard to the parliamentary dimension of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership. “He currently actively discusses this issue with Belgium, which has held the EU presidency since July 1,” Mr. Hrynkevich said.