Russia's Karelia seeks closer ties with Belarus in sport, tourism

Russia's Karelia seeks to develop closer ties with Belarus in culture and sport, Larisa Podsadnik, Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, told the media after a meeting with the senior officials of the Grodno regional administration, BelTA has learned.

“There are many points of contact: the exchange of athletes, their training. We have a very interesting history. For its part Grodno Oblast has a lot of museums which are attractive in terms of content and development of cooperation. Relations in this avenue can be mutually beneficial," Larisa Podsadnik said.

"Today the Republic of Karelia is among the top 5 regions of the Russian Federation in terms of tourism development. This is event tourism, historical tourism. We are ready to host tourists from Belarus, to forge closer ties and provide our tourist infrastructure and routes. There are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in our republic," she added.

Larisa Podsadnik also touched on the prospects for cooperation in education: "We understand that the Republic of Belarus has very good patriotic education programs. We have something to share and something to learn from the Belarusian side." She also highlighted the importance of economic cooperation.

Despite the fact that today's visit to the Grodno region has a narrow focus, a number of points of contact have already been outlined. "Our delegation has representatives of the welfare sector, heads of the largest social institutions of the Republic of Karelia. A lot of money is spent to support both children and the elderly. We are interested in everything. We will visit major social institutions of Grodno Oblast and share our experience. Welfare is a very voluminous, broad concept. We are interested in how institutions work and how welfare payments are made. We want to learn more about the programs for the senior population . The population is aging in the world and in our countries, and it is very important that the elder generation is taken good care by the state. It is very interesting to see how Grodno Oblast works in this field. We expect that our cooperation will contribute to building up the trajectory of movement for the two regions. After all, the welfare sector is not easy, but it is very important for state as a whole," Larisa Podsadnik concluded.

The delegation of the Republic of Karelia is in Grodno Oblast on a four-day visit. The guests are set to visit the employment promotion service of Grodno and territorial welfare centers of the city of Grodno and Grodno District.