New Russia regions are interested in developing cooperation with Belarus - Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the new regions of Russia are interested in developing cooperation with Belarus.

“New regions of Russia are also showing interest in joining interregional cooperation,” the President of the Russian Federation said. He sent a video message to the X Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus participants.

Putin noted that almost all subjects of the Russian Federation and all regions of Belarus maintain mutually beneficial multifaceted contacts. The President of the Russian Federation stated that Siberia, the Far East, Crimea, and Sevastopol began to build partnerships with Belarusian colleagues more actively.

The Head of the Russian state called the cooperation between the regions of Russia and Belarus "the heart of truly allied relations" between the two countries and integration processes within the Union State.

Putin drew attention to the fact that the interregional forum “has been gathering for more than 10 years the heads of regions, parliamentarians, heads of ministries and departments, representatives of business and expert circles, public and youth organizations of the two countries, that is, those who are engaged in the development of friendly and good-neighborly Russian-Belarusian relations”. As the Head of state said, about 1,000 Russian and Belarusian delegates came to the current forum in Ufa.

“In total, as I was informed, about a thousand Russian and Belarusian delegates arrived in Ufa, who participated both in the official program of the forum and in the exhibition of economic achievements of the regions dedicated to it, a joint meeting of the chambers of commerce and industry of the two countries and a meeting of young parliamentarians.

I know you had beneficial and lively discussions on the entire spectrum of topical, practical issues of bilateral partnership and building the Union State. Among such issues that are being resolved with the direct participation of the regions, I would like to note the deepening of industrial cooperation, the implementation of projects in the agricultural sector, the introduction of advanced information technologies, the expansion of humanitarian ties and tourist exchanges, support for public organizations and volunteer movements.

It is essential that over a hundred cooperation agreements and commercial contracts were signed during the forum. This is an impressive result, which, of course, will contribute to the further economic development of Russia and Belarus and strengthen the interconnectedness of the two country’s economies,” Vladimir Putin said.

Author: Azat Gizzatullin