Daily Times

The president of the Republic of Belarus, Aleksandr Grigorievich Lukashenko, will be in Islamabad on a three-day official visit from Monday, with several investment deals and memorandums of understanding likely to be discussed, the foreign office said on Thursday.

Pakistan has been pushing for foreign investment from allies old and new in recent months in a bid to shore up its $350 billion economy as it navigates a tough reforms agenda mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“President of the republic of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, will undertake an official visit to Pakistan from Nov. 25-27,” the foreign office spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, said at a weekly press briefing. “President Lukashenko will hold extensive talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and discuss the areas of bilateral cooperation,”

Pakistan and Belarus, the world’s 74th-largest economy by GDP, celebrated thirty years of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year. Pakistan was one of the first countries to recognize Belarus after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and maintains an embassy in Minsk.

The prime minister of Belarus was in Islamabad earlier this year where he met his counterpart as well as the chief of the Pakistan army, among other key leaders.

In September, Pakistan and Belarus discussed different options for a joint venture to establish a tractor plant in the country and reached a consensus on collaborating on a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine to protect cattle, as well as on the capacity building of agricultural engineers in machinery design.

They also agreed to enhance cooperation in the sectors of livestock and seeds, and work together on the mechanization of agriculture and on increasing market access for agricultural and livestock products. Belarus also wants to set up a veterinary medicine plant in Pakistan.

The First Pakistan-Belarus Joint Economic Commission (JEC) was held in 2015 in which the two countries agreed to initiate joint ventures in the textile, pharmaceutical and lighting solution industries and share technological expertise.