21 October, Vitebsk /Sergey Kochetov - BELTA/. An agreement between the governments of Belarus and Latvia on small border traffic may come into force by the end of 2011. This forecast was made in a conversation with a BELTA correspondent by the Latvian Ambassador to Belarus, Mihails Popkovs. In Vitebsk, the diplomat is participating in the international forum "Innovative Business - Investments of the Future". Work on bringing this intergovernmental agreement into force is nearing completion, and the first permits for crossing the border may be issued to residents of border regions by the end of the current year, the Latvian diplomat noted. Once in force, this agreement will open up vast opportunities for cultural cooperation, for the intensification of contacts in the humanitarian sphere, as well as for the effective development of relations between local self-government bodies of the two countries and economic partnerships of businesses, Mihails Popkovs emphasized. Currently, state bodies are completing the preparation of the relevant procedures necessary for the agreement to enter into force. This includes, in particular, the approval of document forms, the coordination of lists of residents of both countries living in border regions, a clearer designation of the territories themselves, and other necessary procedures, the diplomat explained. The agreement between the governments of Belarus and Latvia on small border traffic was signed in Riga on 23 August 2010. The Belarusian side ratified it in December of the same year. The agreement is concluded for an indefinite period and enters into force from the date of receipt through diplomatic channels of the last written notification of the fulfillment by the parties of the necessary internal procedures.-0-

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