For the first time in the last few years, the Belarusian-Italian Bridge to the Future business forum was held in Verona, Italy on 4 October, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The event focused on logistics, textiles, fashion, agriculture and animal husbandry. The Belarusian delegation was formed by the National Center for Marketing and Price Study of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and consisted of logistics operators, representatives of the light industry, agricultural and other enterprises.

About 100 representatives of more than 55 enterprises interested in long-term cooperation with Belarus took part in the forum from the Italian side. "The participants exchanged views on the prospects of further cooperation, ways and mechanisms to strengthen trade and economic ties," the ministry said.

According to Nikolai Borisevich, Director of the National Center for Marketing, many representatives of Italian business circles are already working with Belarus, others are only considering such a possibility. "The number of forum’s participants definitely shows that Italians are ready and eager to work with Belarus despite all the sanctions and other restrictions," he emphasized. According to him, the Italian side is also interested in Belarusian food products. "Despite the fact that the Italians set trends in the production of cheese and other products, Belarus has conducted a very decent dialogue, which was praised by the Italian partners. Belarus has a lot to offer and apply in manufacturing process in Italy," Nikolai Borisevich said.

Charge d'Affaires of Belarus to Italy Kirill Petrovsky drew attention to the fact that, according to Eurostat, the trade between Belarus and Italy is approaching €400 million. "In this situation, it is very important to inform businesses about legal ways of working under the existing sanctions. This is what we have been doing and will continue to do in the future," he stated.

Written by belta.by