MINSK.  July 16. KAZINFORM  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Belarus Anatoly Smirnov met with Chairman of the Council of Republic of the Belarus National Assembly Anatoly Rubinov in Minsk.

As the press service of the Kazakh Embassy in this country informs, issues regarding state and prospects of bilateral cooperation were on agenda of the meeting. According to the Kazakh Diplomat, over the past 5 years commodity turnover between two countries has risen by more than 57% compared to the same period in 2009, and he expressed hope that this tendency would not change in future.

Friendly relations between the Kazakh, Belarusian Presidents significantly influence dynamic development of the bilateral relations, he noted and added that President of Belarus planned to visit Kazakhstan this year.

In turn, Anatoly Rubinov said: "Our Presidents are friends and understand each other. To my mind, this is also a basis for development of bilateral cooperation".

The parties agreed that establishment of the Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia would undoubtedly benefit all three countries. Touching upon the prospects of the Customs Union, A. Smirnov noted that it must be considered from its beneficial sides.

According to A. Rubinov, Belarus and Kazakhstan must use the potential of the Customs Union for mutual benefit. He is confident, that the Customs Union opens new opportunities for activation of trade-economic cooperation and more intensive development of joint productions. In his opinion, the Customs Union will become a new stage in development of the relations between Belarus and Kazakhstan, in particular, after all barriers for mutual trade development were removed.