OREANDA-NEWS. March 25, 2013. Singapore is the ideal platform for the promotion of Belarusian goods in the region, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said during the talks in Singapore.

At the meeting of Alexander Lukashenko and Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam the sides confirmed mutual interest in building up all-round relations between the two countries. The parties believe it is necessary to lay a solid foundation for future cooperation during this highest-level visit, which is the first one in the history of bilateral relations.

In general the two heads of state has a constructive talk.

At the meting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Alexander Lukashenko drew attention to the fact that so far the trade between Belarus and Singapore has been low, amounting to as little as \\$26.5 million in 2012. “This is totally not enough considering that there are many areas of cooperation. We can and must increase the volume of our trade. This is the goal we must set for ourselves,” the Belarusian head of state said.

"We are sure that Singapore is then ideal platform for the promotion of Belarusian products in this promising region," the Belarusian President stressed.

The Belarusian head of state believes the two sides can unite their efforts here. Belarusian Potash Company has opened its office in Singapore to secure uninterrupted annual MOP supplies from Belarus to Southeast Asia (worth hundreds millions of U.S. dollars). The countries have similar prospects regarding supplies of high- tech mechanical engineering products.

Alexander Lukashenko believes that Belarus and Singapore could benefit from cooperation in investments and participation of Singaporean companies in privatization of Belarusian enterprises. “Many our big companies are ready for fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation with your investors. We spent a lot of resources to upgrade these companies. We managed to turn the USSR legacy into efficient and modern production facilities,” the Belarusian President said.

“Now we are ready to consider any proposals related to the sale of shares of our major companies to Singapore. The only condition is transparency, economic sense and mutual benefits,” Alexander Lukashenko emphasized.

The Belarusian head of state believes that investment proposals to be voiced at the Belarus-Singapore business forum during the ongoing visit will spark interest in Singaporean companies.

Alexander Lukashenko mentioned the benefits of the Single Economic Space set up by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The President also drew attention to the Belarusian-Chinese Industrial Park to be constructed near Minsk and the unprecedented preferences offered for investors who will operate in the park. This park will be similar to that in the Chinese city of Suzhou.

“I have set a task to study and adopt the best practices and most advanced technologies. Therefore, we are interested in Singapore’s electronic government solutions that might help us enhance the efficiency of the state apparatus,” the Belarusian leader said.

“Your country is one of the largest financial centers in Southeastern Asia, the Asian-Pacific region and the entire world. We are now actively working to place Belarusian securities on the financial market of Singapore,” said the Belarusian head of state.

Alexander Lukashenko underlined that Belarus services and redeems its obligations as part of external borrowing on time and in full.

“The Belarusian side is intent on an open, long-term and essential dialogue about all the matters on the bilateral agenda,” the Belarusian President underlined.

The Belarusian head of state said he was confident that through joint work the list of topics of mutual interest can be considerably extended. He confirmed the invitation for the Prime Minister of Singapore to come to Belarus on an official visit.

“I will not try to hide the fact that we are interested in your development model that has secured impressive fast economic growth and better living standards of the population within a short time,” remarked the Belarusian head of state.

Alexander Lukashenko believes that Belarus might learn from the unique history of Singapore. “We are in favor of the independent policy pursued by Singapore on the international arena. The first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, believed that the country could become a success relying solely on itself and he advanced Singapore from the group of “third world countries” to the group of global leaders,” the Belarusian head of state said. Alexander Lukashenko pointed out that Belarus, just like Singapore, has opted for its own development path taking into consideration the interests of Belarusian people.

The President said that over the 20 years since the establishment of our diplomatic relations, the cooperation between Belarus and Singapore has made certain progress. “I am convinced that we still need to do much more,” the head of state said.

Alexander Lukashenko noted that the ongoing visit to Singapore, the first highest-level visit in the history of the bilateral relations, gave a start to a dialogue across a wide range of matters. “We have laid a foundation for mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields,” the President emphasized.

According to President of Singapore Tony Tan Keng Yam, there are many opportunities for the development of closer ties between Belarus and Singapore.

"Looking to the future, I am sure there are many opportunities for the development of good relations that already exist between the two countries, and we will work together for the benefit of our peoples," the President of Singapore said.

Tony Tan Keng Yam said the visit of the Belarusian President to Singapore is the historic event laying the cornerstone in the foundation of bilateral relations, and expressed confidence that it would greatly help to increase awareness of the potential of cooperation with Belarus in various fields.

With this, the President of Singapore turned attention to the fact that economic cooperation between the two countries is still at the initial stage. He expressed hope that the signing of the bilateral agreements will help expand economic cooperation, increase mutual trade and investment and intensify contacts between the two countries. Tony Tan Keng Yam also believes that apart from political and economic cooperation the two countries have a potential for closer cooperation in other areas such as science and technology, culture and arts, others.

Tony Tan Keng Yam has praised Belarus’ economic achievements against the backdrop of the global economic uncertainty. He noted that Singapore officials who took part in the 7th Belarusian Investment Forum in November 2012 could see with their own eyes the potential of Belarus.

“The Belarus-Singapore business forum that will be held during the visit of the Belarusian head of state will help learn more about competitive advantages of Belarus,” the Singaporean President said. He pointed to the untapped potential of the bilateral economic cooperation.

Singapore remains a gateway to the region and is willing to share its experience, President of Singapore Tony Tan Keng Yam said.

The Singaporean President remarked that the countries have maintained friendly relations for more than 20 years. “Being small countries surrounded by big neighbors, we have many common interests. We value cooperation within the framework of multilateral forums and international organizations,” Tony Tan Keng Yam said and praised vibrant cooperation in the Non-Aligned Movement, the UN Forum of Small States, the Group of Friends United against Human Trafficking.