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Zenon Lomat: Belarus will be a barrier-free zone for Chinese investments

28 June 2010

MINSK, 28 June (BelTA) – Belarus will become a barrier-free zone for Chinese investments, Chairman of the State Control Committee of Belarus Zenon Lomat said in a session of the Belarusian-Chinese commission for trade and economic cooperation in Minsk on 28 June.

“Belarus will do its utmost to remove all the obstacles for Chinese investments. There will be none of them,” Zenon Lomat stressed. According to co-chairman of the commission, Deputy Commerce Minister of China Gao Hucheng, China is interested in actual disbursement of funds in Belarus. There are, however, some problems including customs clearance of Chinese equipment in Belarus.

The Chinese equipment imported to Belarus should undergo conformity reassessment that “creates great inconvenience and slows down the investing process,” Gao Hucheng said. In this respect the Chinese side offers to remove these barriers in order to create favorable conditions for the bilateral trade.

The Belarusian-Chinese commission for trade and economic cooperation was founded in January 1992 to develop strategies for stepping up bilateral trade and economic cooperation, define and coordinate key cooperation areas and joint projects. The commission is also engaged in settling problems related to the implementation of economic agreements.

The trade and economic relations between the two countries have been steadily developing despite the global financial and economic crisis. A slight decline in the bilateral trade was reported in 2009. In January-April 2010 the bilateral trade in goods and services totaled $640 million, 58% up over the same period in 2009.