Belarus to open embassies in Brazil, Nigeria

Belarus will soon open an embassy in Brazil, Foreign Minister of Belarus Sergei Martynov said in an interview to Belarus-TV Channel. “Actually we are opening the embassy there. The first employees have already been deployed. Previously we had a consulate general in Brazil, and now we are opening a full-fledged embassy,” Sergei Martynov said.

The minister explained the importance of cooperation with Brazil, which is the eighth economy in the world. For Belarus this is one of the major trading partners in Latin America. “The downside is that Belarus has been primarily exporting fertilizer there. And we want our trade with Brazil to be diversified with other goods including machinery and chemicals, and also the manufacture of our products in Brazil,” Sergei Martynov said.

“Our approach to foreign economic relations is that we need to proceed from simple forms of trade (exports/imports) to more sophisticated forms. We seek to create joint ventures and through them increase our presence in the market,” the minister stressed.

He also noted that in the near future Belarus will open its embassy in Nigeria. “This is a reflection of the policy that we must advance onto new markets – the countries new to us,” the minister said.

Over the past two years we have discovered, figuratively speaking, 34 new countries. Naturally, that our diplomatic presence moves along with our economic interests,” Sergei Martynov added.