On October 24, Vitebsk / Sergey Kotov - BELTA /. The development of interregional cooperation will be the focus of a meeting between heads of local self-government bodies of cities and districts of the Vitebsk region and Latvia, which is planned to be held in the near future. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the Economics Committee of the Regional Executive Committee. A preliminary agreement on an event of this format was reached following the round table "Promising directions of Belarusian-Latvian regional cooperation" at the international investment forum in Vitebsk, which took place on October 21-22. It is expected that invitations to the summit will be sent to the heads of regional authorities of the border territories of Latvia and the Vitebsk region, who plan to implement projects within the framework of cross-border cooperation programs. The venue and specific date of the regional summit will be determined later. One of the goals of the meeting may be to expand regional interaction using the potential of international technical assistance programs, as well as to exchange information on projects that are already planned for implementation under the cross-border cooperation program "Baltic Sea Region". The discussion of cooperation prospects at the level of regional leaders, the search for new possible areas of joint action can become a guarantee of successful long-term cooperation, the Economics Committee noted. Recently, there has been an intensification of contacts between the regions of the Vitebsk region and Latvia within the framework of international projects and programs. This is primarily characteristic of those districts of the Vitebsk region that are adjacent to the Belarusian-Latvian border. Thus, the Vitebsk region currently has eight joint regional projects with Latvian partners, declared for implementation in 2012-2013. One of them is a project to develop the airport infrastructure of Vitebsk and Daugavpils, which has already been supported by the European Commission with a budget for the Belarusian side of 530 thousand euros under the international program "Baltic Sea Region". In addition, the Vitebsk region participates in the international project "Green Corridor 'East-West'", the task of which is to increase the transit attractiveness of the regions. -0-

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