Lukashenko to visit UAE, Zimbabwe

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko is set to pay visits to the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Zimbabwe in the coming days, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian leader.

“On the invitation of the leadership of the United Arab Emirates and the president of Zimbabwe the Belarusian head of state is expected to visit these countries in the near future. The Belarusian president is set to hold a number of meetings and talks,” the press service said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko touched upon the theme of cooperation with the United Arab Emirates during his recent visit to the Intellectual Belarus expo. The two countries are implementing a number of large-scale projects. The head of state was particularly interested in developments in the field of artificial intelligence. He had discussed this topic earlier during his meetings with foreign partners, including partners from the United Arab Emirates, a country where artificial intelligence is one of key areas of focus. In this regard, Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled the Northern Waterfront project to build an experimental multifunctional complex in Minsk. “Why did I fall for this: not only because of the $5 billion in investments, but also because they promised me to create this smart city, as well as a powerful educational platform for artificial intelligence. There will be a university there. If you need support or contacts with these people (they have greatly advanced in this field), feel free to ask,” the head of state said.

In general, trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and the UAE has been steadily developing. Joint interests and prospects of cooperation lie in such areas as investment, industry, agriculture, banking and finance, transport and logistics, education and scientific research, sports and tourism, and others.

As for Zimbabwe, Belarus has a long history of relations with this partner in southern Africa. In general, a lot of attention is paid to cooperation with the countries of the African continent. For example, Aleksandr Lukashenko visited Egypt and Sudan several years ago. Earlier, Belarus was actively developing relations with Libya, but the process was interrupted due to the civil war and political instability in the country, which were the result, among other things, of the interference of the West.

There are also mutual interests with a number of other African countries. At the meeting on Belarus' foreign policy priorities in the summer of 2017, Aleksandr Lukashenko said it was necessary to develop a fully-fledged long-term strategy for Belarus' cooperation with African countries. “There should be a fully-fledged long-term strategy of cooperation with African countries, as a number of European countries comparable to Belarus have,” the president said.