Belarus is interested in establishing an Indian investment cluster in Orsha District, Vitebsk Oblast. The possibility was discussed as Chairman of the International Affairs and National Security Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Sergei Rakhmanov met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to Belarus Pankaj Saxena in Minsk, the press service of the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament told BelTA.

Sergei Rakhmanov and Pankaj Saxena discussed trade and economic cooperation. Close attention was paid to the possibility of Indian companies taking part in the construction of a multimodal industrial and logistics hub in Bolbasovo, Orsha District, Vitebsk Oblast.

It was noted during the meeting that Belarus is interested in establishing a large Indian investment cluster in the area with a view to raising foreign direct investments for the sake of implementing projects in the sphere of pharmaceutics, mechanical engineering, textile industry, agriculture, and so on. "For now it is important for us to find concrete partners on the Indian side in order to implement projects in Bolbasovo. We are ready to discuss possible manufacturing cooperation options," said Sergei Rakhmanov.

A conference chaired by Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich, who is in charge of overseeing cooperation with India, is supposed to take place in the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament soon. Concrete conditions for implementing the abovementioned projects in Orsha District will be discussed. Sergei Rakhmanov added: "We are interested in getting representatives of the scientific community and the business community involved in the discussion in order to make detailed plans and effectively build a common strategy for advancing cooperation with India in priority areas."

The negotiations also touched upon bilateral cooperation opportunities in the area of high technologies. "Belarus has a successful track record in this field. By combining our efforts, we could advance partnership, including in order to train personnel for the IT industry," noted the senator.

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