During the forum, opportunities for expanding bilateral business interaction in various sectors will be considered, and negotiations will be held between representatives of Belarusian and Indian business circles. The next meeting of the "Belarus-India" Business Cooperation Council will also take place.
Indian businessmen will be presented with the business climate and investment opportunities of Belarus, and will be informed about the prospects for promoting goods to the markets of the Eurasian Economic Union and EU countries.
Several dozen heads and representatives of Indian companies operating in such sectors as pharmaceuticals, food industry, trade and investment, export-import operations, implementation of infrastructure projects, petrochemicals, information technologies and services, medicine, financial activities, mining industry, mechanical engineering, woodworking, education, biotechnology, etc., have registered to participate in the business forum.
In turn, the day before, a representative Belarusian delegation arrived in New Delhi, comprising members of the government, industry ministers, heads of concerns and various departments, and heads and specialists of a number of Belarusian enterprises and companies.
As the Ambassador of Belarus to India, Vitaly Prima, told journalists, the business forum is held in partnership with three major Indian business associations. The signing of over 20 documents worth tens of millions of dollars is expected – memorandums, agreements, and contracts.
The business forum is held on the eve of the official visit of the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, to India. The next day, September 12, the development of Belarusian-Indian cooperation will be comprehensively discussed at the highest level. The Head of State will hold negotiations and a series of official meetings with the leadership of India, including President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The focus will be on interaction in the trade and economic, political, scientific and technical, and humanitarian spheres, and tourism. Issues of cooperation in the format of Eurasian integration and new opportunities for mutual investment will also be addressed. The parties will also exchange views on current international agenda issues.
The annual Belarusian-Indian trade turnover from 2014 to 2016 was around $400 million with a positive balance for Belarus. According to the results for January-July 2017, it amounted to $228.5 million. The basis of Belarusian exports is potash fertilizers. It is worth recalling that about two years ago, the goal was set to reach a bilateral trade turnover level of $1 billion. Currently, the parties are actively working towards its implementation. "A few years ago, a roadmap was developed and approved, starting from cooperation in the mining industry to the development of interregional ties. Work has been carried out, and partners have been identified on both sides. And today, we can talk about concrete results and promising projects that will be implemented in the near future and will form the basis of our further progressive trade and economic development," notes the Ambassador of Belarus to India.
It is noteworthy that the head of the Belarusian state has visited India twice with visits at almost equal intervals - in September 1997 and April 2007.