Hope for Belarus-Italy trade to reach €1bn

Italy expects that trade with Belarus will reach €1 billion. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Italy to Belarus Mario Giorgio Stefano Baldi made the relevant statement during an online conference held in the National Press Center on 26 May to discuss Belarus-Italy cooperation, BelTA has learned. The ambassador pointed out that at present Belarus-Italy trade is close to €800 million according to Italian statistics. “But we intend to reach €1 billion. I don't know whether we will be able to reach the figure this year due to the coronavirus but we will try to,” he said. The diplomat said that Italy intends to diversify export to Belarus in order to increase the volume of mutual trade. “We hope to increase the trade turnover by relying on such traditionally strong areas of the Italian economy as equipment production, civil engineering, healthcare as well as green economy in order to generate clean energy, live and create in ecological conditions,” he noted. The ambassador said that the fourth Belarusian-Italian business forum, which is due in Minsk in October, will be dedicated to green economy. The diplomat spoke highly of the development of Belarusian-Italian contacts and thanked Belarusians for support and solidarity at a time Italy fights against the coronavirus.