Muscat - The Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Belarus will seek to expand the scope of partnerships and strengthen bilateral relations and economic, political, and cultural ties between the two friendly countries.
The visit of Aleksandr Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus, to the Sultanate of Oman and his meeting with His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik is an extension of the aspirations of the two countries and an important step in strengthening and advancing partnerships in various fields, especially economic, trade, and investment.
The exchange of official visits at the leadership level reflects the keenness to develop and strengthen bilateral relations, as Roman Gulovitchenko, Prime Minister of Belarus, visited the Sultanate of Oman last October, during which high-level meetings were held with several officials. He also met with many Omani businessmen, where opportunities for economic and investment cooperation between the two countries were discussed, and many memoranda of understanding were signed.
Trade
The Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of Belarus visited the Sultanate of Oman in August to attend a business forum, sign a memorandum of understanding between the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) and the National Center for Marketing and Pricing in Belarus, and sign a memorandum of understanding between the Oman National Engineering and Investment Company (ONIC) and Hi-Tech Park Belarus in the field of information and communications technology and high technologies.
Ambassador Hamoud bin Salem al Towaih, the Sultanate of Oman's Ambassador to the Russian Federation and non-resident to the Republic of Belarus said in a special statement that during the visit, the two sides will discuss ways to enhance bilateral relations and exchange views on current regional and international issues.
He added that this visit will contribute to expanding areas of economic cooperation between the two countries, whether through increasing trade exchange or investment in strategic sectors such as renewable energy, green hydrogen, heavy industries, and technology.
The Ambassador explained that the Republic of Belarus has a competitive capacity in the heavy machinery and technology industry, which is in line with the economic interests of the Sultanate of Oman in developing a strong and advanced infrastructure that enables the opening of new markets for Omani products in Belarus, in addition to providing marketing for Belarusian products in the Omani markets.
Agreements
He pointed out that the two countries have signed many memoranda of understanding and agreements in various fields, including an agreement to encourage and protect investment, an agreement on economic and trade cooperation, a memorandum of understanding for political consultations between the two countries, an agreement to avoid double taxation, a cooperation agreement between the chambers of commerce in the two countries, agreements on trade and economic cooperation, mutual protection of investments, and mutual cancellation of visas for holders of diplomatic, special and official passports, and memoranda of understanding between the ministries of foreign affairs, justice, education, culture, and chambers of commerce and industry.
An air transport agreement was also signed between the government of the Republic of Belarus and the government of the Sultanate of Oman, in addition to other agreements and memoranda of understanding.'
Tourism
Both sides are looking forward to providing the tourism sectors in the two countries with new visions that will promote the tourism assets and capabilities enjoyed by the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Belarus.
The two countries are witnessing cooperation in the cultural and academic fields, as they signed a loan contract to organize a temporary exhibition with the National Historical Museum and inaugurated the Belarus exhibition "At the Crossroads of Civilizational Communication" in 2018 in Muscat.
In return, the "Oman Day" exhibition and events were inaugurated in 2019 in Belarus.
The Belarusian Cultural Week was also held in Muscat in 2020.
It is worth noting that diplomatic relations between the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Belarus were established on July 23, 1992, while the President of the Republic of Belarus paid an official visit to the Sultanate of Oman in April 2007. There were also mutual visits between the two sides, whether at the parliamentary or political level, in addition to other rounds of political consultations held periodically in the two countries.
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