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On the Official Visit of Mr. Vladimir Makei, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, to Iraq

24 August 2014

24-08-2014

On August 23-24, 2014 Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Mr. Vladimir Makei paid an official visit to the Republic of Iraq. The Belarusian delegation included senior representatives of the Ministry of Industry and concern “Belneftekhim”, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This is the first visit of the Belarusian delegation of such a level to Iraq since 2003.



On August 24, 2014 Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus was received by the President of Iraq Mr. Muhammad Fuad Masum. The President of Iraq appreciated the visit of the Head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry as a signal of support for the Iraqi leadership in the fight against extremists. Mr. Vladimir Makei condemned the actions of terrorist groups, which led to widespread casualties among the Iraqi population. The Minister confirmed Belarus’ readiness for expanding partnership with Iraq in all fields.



In the photo: a meeting with Nuri Kamel al-Maliki.

During the meetings with the Acting Prime Minister of Iraq Mr. Nouri Kamil al-Maliki and the Designate Prime Minister of Iraq Mr. Haider Al-Abadi the possible ways to enhance trade and economic cooperation between the two countries were discussed in detail.


In the photo: a meeting with Haidar al-Abadi.

In this connection, the importance of holding the next meeting of the joint Belarusian-Iraqi commission on trade and economic cooperation was acknowledged. Mr. Vladimir Makei reiterated the invitation to the Prime Minister of Iraq and a number of Ministers to visit Belarus.



During the meeting with the Speaker of the Parliament of Iraq Dr. Salim Abdullah al-Jabouri the importance of intensifying inter-parliamentary cooperation as part of the bilateral political dialogue was mentioned.




On August 23, Mr. Vladimir Makei discussed with Mr. Hussain al-Shahristani, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy of Iraq, the possibility of increasing the supply of Belarusian equipment to the Iraqi market, the implementation of joint projects in various fields, as well as the establishment of closer contacts between the business communities of the two countries.




During the talks with Mr. Hoshyar Zebari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, Mr. Vladimir Makei stressed the need to give new impetus to relations between Belarus and Iraq. In this regard, the Parties discussed the prospects of the exchange of visits at various levels, noted the need to improve the legal base of bilateral relations. The Iraqi side expressed interest in resuming direct flights between Minsk and Baghdad, as well as opening of the Belarusian embassy in Baghdad.




In the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, the Foreign Minister of Belarus and the Chairman of the National Investment Commission of Iraq Dr. Sami Rauf al-Araji signed the Agreement on the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Republic of Iraq.




Under the auspices of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Iraq Mr. Vladimir Makei held a meeting with Iraqi business circles, which was attended by the leaders of more than 40 major Iraqi companies. Deputy Minister of Industry Mr. Gennady Svidersky and Deputy Chairman of “Belneftekhim” Mr. Vladimir Sizov held a presentation of products of enterprises subordinate to the Ministry of Industry and the “Belneftekhim” concern respectively.




The Iraqi side expressed substantial interest in the implementation of projects with Belarusian partners in the fields of industry, agriculture, tourism, and education. An agreement was reached to organize a visit of business circles of Iraq to Belarus.




During the visit Minister of Foreign Affairs gave a number of interviews to Iraqi media.

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