Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus S.Aleinik pays an official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

On January 7-8, 2024 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Sergei Aleinik, paid an official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Rich Programme of the visit included talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. During the talks, the Foreign Minister of Belarus conveyed the messages of the President of the Republic of Belarus addressed to King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and Crown Prince — Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. The documents are dedicated to bilateral relations and ways of their further development and promotion in various fields.

Within the framework of the visit, a special attention was paid to the industrial, scientific and business clusters of cooperation between the two countries.

Thus, during the meeting with the head of the partner structure of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, President of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Dr Munir bin Mahmoud El-Desouki, the sides fosed on ways to intensify scientific cooperation, identify new promising research projects and develop contacts between scientists. Agreements were reached on resuming joint work on a number of fundamental and applied projects, as well as exchanging visits of scientists and researchers from the two countries.

Talks with the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, Bandar Ibrahim Alkhorayef, focused on the possibilities of industrial cooperation, supplies of Belarusian machinery and prospects for joint projects in third countries. Special attention was paid to the existing niches for Belarus to join the large-scale economic diversification programme “Vision 2030” implemented by Saudi Arabia.

The members of the Belarusian delegation, including the leadership of the National Marketing Centre and the Hi Tech Park, held a number of side events during the visit aimed at promoting cooperation between the business communities of the two countries and in the field of high technologies. As a result, a number of practical agreements were reached, which will be implemented already this year and will give a new impetus to direct contacts and projects between the businesses of Belarus and Saudi Arabia. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the NCM of Belarus and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Saudi Arabia.

Background Information. Within the framework of the “Vision 2030” Programme, the Saudi leadership is implementing a large-scale economic diversification programme aimed at reducing dependence on hydrocarbons, expanding the potential of the non-oil sector, and creating new jobs for young people (up to 60 per cent of the population). The programme envisages tripling industrial production by 2030.

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