President of the Confederation of Lithuanian Industrialists, Bronislovas Lubys, on May 21 reported that Lithuania wanted to make Grodno airport to be international. "Grodno has a beautiful airport that meets international standards. For Belarus and Lithuania it would be beneficial to create international airport", Lithuanian businessman said.
In this case, according to Bronislovas Lubys, the passengers arriving and departing from both countries would have a right on «green corridor». «At this airport, would boarder the planes not only from Russia and the CIS, but also the European aircrafts which are to fly in Grodno and Druskininkai. If Belarusian and Lithuanian authorities agree, we can start the relevant work», BelTA quotes the president of the Confederation of Lithuanian Industrialists.
Bronislovas Lubys believes that at present it is perspective to create clusters between Belarus and Lithuania. «However, it is not necessary to base them on property but on raw materials, organization of sales», Lithuanian businessman said. «It would be promising to establish the Belarusian-Lithuanian cluster with the participation of Grodnoazot enterprise and similar Lithuanian company. I think that the profitability of this association would increase».
Bronislovas Lubys also expressed the hope that in the near future there will be decided the issue of creating the border zone of free movement and residence of Belarusian and Lithuanian citizens in 50 kilometers.
Cooperation between Belarus and Lithuania in the sphere of investment comes to a high level, Bagdonas
In his turn, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Lithuania to Belarus, Edminas Bagdonas, stated that both countries face the «completely new qualitative and a high level of investment cooperation».
Lithuanian diplomat recalled that on May 20 the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, received the delegation of Lithuanian businessmen, and expressed hope that the meeting at which «the elite of Lithuanian business was explained all the issues of cooperation, would be effective as soon as possible».
In his turn, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Lithuania, Vladimir Drazhin, noted that last year, despite the global crisis, Lithuania’s direct investments in Belarus grew by 2.1 times over the level of 2008. «In the first quarter of this year there was a tendency of trade turnover growth between Belarus and Lithuania», Belarusian diplomat said.
Last year, the amount of Lithuanian investments in Belarusian economy exceeded 32.9 million, including foreign direct investment exceeded 28.6 million dollars. In the first quarter of 2010, Lithuanian investments were received in the amount of more than six million dollars, including more than 4.5 million dollars of direct investments.
