Iraqi delegation headed by Deputy Prime-Minister Abdal Huwaysh to visit Belarus

BELARUS FOREIGN MINISTRY

September 30, 2002

On the invitation of Leonid Kozik, Chairman of the Belarusian part of the Joint Belarusian-Iraqi Commission on trade and economic cooperation and in accordance with the working plan of the Commission the Iraqi delegation headed by the Deputy Prime-Minister of the Republic of Iraq Abdal Tawab Mullah al-Huwaysh will pay a visit to Belarus from September 29 to October 4, 2002. The delegation includes representatives of the ministries of industry, health and transport of Iraq.

During the visit negotiations in the framework of the Joint Belarusian-Iraqi Commission are planned. A meeting of the Iraqi delegation with the President of the Republic of Belarus is also scheduled. The delegation will visit a number of Belarusian enterprises - Altimed Company, which produces orthopedic products, Belarusian Railways, Clinic of the Scientific Research Clinical Institute of Radiation Medicine and Endocrinology in Aksakovshchina.

Commissioned by the President of Iraq, Abdal Huwaysh will inform the Head of the Belarusian State on the situation in Iraq and in the region and on the position of the Iraqi side to cooperation with the UN Security Council in light of the recent approval of Iraq to UN inspections.

A special emphasis during the visit will be laid on humanitarian cooperation issues, in particular, on provision of charity medical assistance to Iraq by means of providing medical equipment, medicines and operations by Belarusian surgeons.

The sides will also negotiate on expanding trade and economic relations between the two countries in the framework of the "Food for Oil" program and on the implementation of the agreements reached during the fourth meeting of the Joint Belarusian-Iraqi Commission on trade and economic cooperation which took place in March 2002 in Minsk.

The visit of the high-level Iraqi delegation will contribute to the further activisation of Belarusian-Iraqi trade and economic cooperation. During 2001 Belarusian export to Iraq exceeded 26 million US dollars. During January-July 2002 Belarusian export was about 15 million dollars.