Belarus-Uzbekistan women's business forum to draw about 1,000 participants

The first edition of the Belarus-Uzbekistan women's business forum will bring together about a thousand participants, Chairman of the Standing Committee on International Affairs and National Security of the Council of the Republic Sergei Rachkov told reporters, BelTA has learned.

“A very important political event will be held in our country. Belarus will host a parliamentary delegation headed by the chairwoman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan. One of the highlights of the visit will be the first Belarus-Uzbekistan women's business forum,” Sergei Rachkov said.

The senator noted that the idea to hold this forum was put forward by the heads of the upper houses of the parliaments of Belarus and Uzbekistan. “We expect this forum to give new dynamics to business contacts between Belarus and Uzbekistan,” he stressed. “Over 500 people are expected to take part in the plenary session alone. There will also be six breakout sessions across various fields of expertise. The agenda of these sessions is based on the roadmap for promoting trade and economic contacts that was signed by the heads of government of our countries. In particular, the sessions will cover such areas as industry, agriculture, education and science. Culture and tourism will also be on the agenda. Thus, the aggregate number of participants in the forum will approximate one thousand people,” Sergei Rachkov said.

According to him, about 20 agreements and memorandums of cooperation, as well as contracts are to be signed on the sidelines of the forum. “The amount of contracts is projected to be quite big for the first edition of such a business forum that was initiated by women of Belarus and Uzbekistan. And they got actively involved in promoting bilateral cooperation, primarily in trade, investment, and manufacturing. This is the most important thing today. As the president of our country keeps saying, the economy is at the heart of everything,” Sergei Rachkov added, “The forum seeks to make the most of the economic potential of Belarus and Uzbekistan. Our economies are complementary, so it is important to use this potential to maximum effect, especially in these difficult conditions, when our country was subjected to economic pressure. But we have risen to the challenge and will use all opportunities,” Sergei Rachkov said.

Six breakout sessions are scheduled for 5 September: “Expansion of Belarus-Uzbekistan cooperation in manufacturing”, “Promising avenues of cooperation in light industry”, “Building closer partnerships between agro-industrial complexes of Belarus and Uzbekistan”, “Healthcare and pharmaceutics - promising areas of cooperation between the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Uzbekistan”, “Academic partnerships”, “Contacts in culture and tourism”.

The highlight of the first Belarus-Uzbekistan women's business forum will be a plenary session “Women entrepreneurs - the potential for developing business contacts between Belarus and Uzbekistan”. The forum will be held on 6 September.

The forum is organized by the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus.