Belarus-Austria intergovernmental commission to resume its work in 2014

        The Belarusian-Austrian intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation is set to resume its work. The agreement was reached during negotiations between the Belarusian and Austrian Foreign Ministries in Vienna. The next regular session will take place in Minsk in Q1 2014.
The Austrian side communicated to Belarus that it is going to send its official from the Austrian Foreign Ministry to Minsk in autumn 2013 in order to work in Belarus on a permanent basis. It is done to deepen bilateral cooperation. During the consultations the sides discussed the issues of the development of bilateral political and economic ties and cooperation in culture and education. The officials also focused on the issues of the improvement of legal framework. The Belarusian and Austrian officials exchanged information on relations with their neighbors and discussed cooperation in European and other international organizations. Participants to the consultations agreed on the development of working contacts between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries, including by holding thematic consultations on cooperation in the Central European Initiative during 2014 when Austria will hold the presidency in this organization.