President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko met with Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed Ali in Moscow on the sidelines of the Global Atomic Forum, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

"It's good that we met. We have something to discuss. Especially to agree on the future. We are building a good agenda for our relations. We have identified the areas where we can and should cooperate. We know what Ethiopia needs - what we have. We know well what we need, and Ethiopia has it. We need to deepen our cooperation, to bring trade turnover to serious volumes. Because our economies are capable of this," said Alexander Lukashenko. "In terms of trade and economic relations, I must publicly state that we have no closed topics, we can cooperate in all areas. Starting from agriculture, food products, creating joint ventures in Ethiopia. As well as military-technical cooperation. Everything we can, we are ready to work with you in these areas."

The President proposed to create a plan - a roadmap for cooperation between Belarus and Ethiopia by the end of the current year. "To outline not only the directions but also the specific figures that we should reach, from the total trade turnover to the supply of our equipment and machinery in units. And vice versa - supplies from Ethiopia to Belarus," emphasized the head of state.

He assured that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus is ready to promptly carry out this work on developing an action plan for the coming years.

Alexander Lukashenko also invited the Prime Minister of Ethiopia to Belarus to visit enterprises and sectors of interest. "We will not hide anything from you," the President noted.

In turn, Abiy Ahmed Ali said: "We would like to increase cooperation in trade and economy. There are a number of areas where we can work together. One such sector is agriculture. We know that Belarus has good tractor production. And joint production can be aimed not only at Ethiopia but also at the entire East Africa."
The Prime Minister named construction as another important area. Ethiopia is ready for joint production of equipment in this field, also with a focus on third-country markets.

"We are also well aware of your capabilities in military-technical cooperation, the support you can provide to our country," Abiy Ahmed Ali added.

In October last year, the leaders of the countries met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan. Alexander Lukashenko then assured that the Belarusian side is ready for active cooperation development and, in particular, to share technologies needed by Ethiopia.

belta.by