English

Lukashenka meets with prime minister of Singapore

Alyaksandr Lukashenka met with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday as part of his two-day state visit to that country.

"We're now ready to consider any proposals for acquiring stakes in our largest companies," the Belarusian leader said, according to the government's news agency BelTA. "The only condition is transparency, economic feasibility and mutual benefit."

The two countries could benefit from Singaporean direct investment in the Belarusian economy and the involvement of Singaporean companies in the privatization campaign in Belarus, Mr. Lukashenka said.

"Many of our largest companies are ready for fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation with your investors," he said. "At some point, we spent a huge amount for their modernization. We have managed to turn the USSR legacy into highly efficient modern production facilities."

Mr. Lukashenka expressed hope that Singaporean business circles would be interested in investment proposals to be put forward during a Belarusian-Singaporean business forum on Friday.

He played up business opportunities within the Common Economic Zone of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia and the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park near Minsk. The park will be modeled after China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park, he said. //BelaPAN