Belarus and Ecuador consider establishing honorary consulates

        Belarus and Ecuador are considering the establishment of honorary consulates, Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Alexander Guryanov said at the meeting of the permanent commission for international affairs of the House of Representatives.
         Alexander Guryanov said: “Our relations with the Republic of Ecuador have been active since 1992.” He recalled that the bilateral cooperation with Latin American countries has recently intensified in general, the exchange of visits intensified. This year the President of Belarus visited Ecuador and the Belarusian side assumes that in H1 2013 Belarus may welcome the Ecuadorian President on a return visit.
Speaking about economic cooperation between the countries, Alexander Guryanov said:
        “Bilateral trade is very little but we see a trend towards growth. Ecuador is the country with the population of 15 million people. The structure of its economy may be of certain interest to Belarus. Belarus would like to participate in oil production projects in Ecuador and also in power engineering, infrastructure and other spheres.
        This year the trade is about $10 million. Belarus imports agricultural products, including bananas from Ecuador. In turn, Belarusian exports include potash fertilizers, steel and synthetic tow. Agreements have been reached on the supply of tractor and automotive engineering to Ecuador”. Presenting the draft law on the ratification of the intergovernmental Belarusian-Ecuadorian agreement on visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic, official and service passports, Alexander Guryanov stressed that this document will help further strengthen bilateral relations.
The permanent commission for international affairs decided to recommend that the House of Representatives adopt the draft law.