A Belarusian-Italian business forum was held in Rome on June 24 to coincide with the Second Session of the Belarusian-Italian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation.


The Forum was organized jointly by the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Italian Republic, the ICEE trade agency and the Italian Confederation of Crafts and Small-medium enterprises CNA.


The Belarusian delegation consisted of the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the National Center for Marketing and Price Study, representatives of business circles.
The free economic zone “Brest” was represented by the deputy head of the FEZ administration, Aliaksandr Shukaila, and the head of the department for foreign economic relations and economic development, Aleksej Lachimov.
During the event, representatives of the Italian business were acquainted with the information on the preferential regimes of the Republic of Belarus, the advantages of joint projects and the prospects for their implementation.


Aleksej Lachimov made a presentation on the economic and investment opportunities of the “Brest” FEZ. He informed representatives of the Italian business community about the economic potential of the region, investment opportunities, tax and customs benefits for residents of the FEZ.
The forum participants were provided with information on economic events held as part of the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the city of Brest.


At the end of the plenary session, the representatives of the FEZ negotiated with Italian businessmen in the format of “small talks”. The focus was on expanding investment cooperation.
Representatives of Italian organizations and enterprises were presented with promotional materials of enterprises-residents of the FEZ “Brest”. Currently, among the residents of the FEZ "Brest" there are 3 enterprises with Italian capital. These enterprises invested in the economy of the region 3.2 million US dollars, created 150 jobs. In 2018, the turnover of enterprises-residents of the FEZ "Brest" with Italy amounted to 22.6 million US dollars (increased by 1.5 times). The export nomenclature includes 22 items.
On July 25, representatives of the administration of the FEZ “Brest” participated in the Second Session of the Belarusian-Italian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation.