Miory Regional Executive Committee

Festival time creates a favorable atmosphere not only for leisure and cultural exchange, but also for expanding contacts and strengthening business cooperation. This was discussed during working meetings between the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Subbotin, and the heads of the diplomatic missions of Brazil and China in Belarus, which took place on the eve of the official opening of the cultural forum.

For His Excellency Bernard Jorge Leopoldo de Garcia Klingel, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federative Republic of Brazil in the Republic of Belarus, this current trip became his first official visit to the Vitebsk region. In addition to negotiations with Alexander Subbotin, the Ambassador participated in the opening of the exhibition “Date with Brazil” at the Art Museum, which began operating on July 12. Also included in the trip program were visits to State Unitary Enterprise “Polimerkonstruktsiya”, Private Unitary Enterprise “Vitstroytechmash”, and the Orsha Flax Processing Plant.

In recent years, cooperation between the Vitebsk region and Chinese regions has continuously maintained positive development dynamics. The theme of deepening interaction became the leitmotif of Alexander Subbotin’s meeting with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Belarus, Se Xiaoyun.

In 2023, enterprises of the region have been regularly visiting China in search of necessary equipment and modern technologies. For example, in May, a business mission was organized for enterprises of the Vitebsk concern “Meat and Dairy Products” to establish contacts with manufacturers of modern packaging materials, meat deboning lines, and energy-saving freezing units.

At the beginning of summer, a delegation from the Vitebsk region participated in the Harbin Fair. As reported by the Economics Committee of the Regional Executive Committee, as a result of the trip, Vitebsk manufacturers secured agreements to hold talks in the third quarter of this year with enterprises in the petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries. Agreements were also reached regarding visits by Chinese companies to the Vitebsk region to familiarize themselves with the needs for modernizing the region’s dairy industry enterprises. In early June, representatives of a Chinese machinery manufacturing company visited the Glubokoe and Vitebsk meat processing plants, as well as the Glubokoe milk and canned food plant. Currently in development

Vitebsk processing enterprises have technologies for producing powder for ice cream manufacturing, dry milk in tablet form, candies, ultra-pasteurized and long-shelf-life milk. In addition, in 2023, two private companies were registered in the Orsha district that intend to develop chicken feet production to meet the needs of the Chinese market.

Interregional ties, which are also developing actively, create a good foundation for strengthening economic interaction. Among the partner regions with which sister ties have been established are the Heilongjiang, Shandong, Guizhou, and Jiangxi provinces, as well as a number of cities and administrative districts within these provinces. In addition, as a result of a visit to Harbin, Novopolotsk and Daqing expressed interest in establishing such relations. Delegations from the Guizhou and Heilongjiang provinces participated in the events of the economic forum in Vitebsk in May 2023. Memorandums on cooperation have been signed with enterprises of the meat and dairy sector and the Dubrovno flax plant. Since 2021, the number of contacts between universities has increased multiple times; today, each university in the region maintains ties with at least five universities and colleges in the PRC provinces. In 2023, representatives of all universities visited China on business trips; at this stage, matters concerning an increase in the number of students and master’s degree candidates from China are being addressed. In addition, the possibility of establishing a Traditional Chinese Medicine Center in Vitebsk is being discussed with the university of Guizhou province.

Agreements on cooperation have also been signed with the China–SCO Demonstration Zone in Qingdao, which is a sister city of Orsha. This has laid the groundwork for discussing the content and implementation terms of interregional programs, as well as organizing business missions of business circles. Visits by delegations from the Shandong and Jiangxi provinces to the Vitebsk region are already scheduled before the end of the current year.

Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by