Moldova to sign new economic cooperation agreement with Belarus

A new economic cooperation treaty between Moldova and Belarus for 2010-2013 will be signed by this yearend. It will be accompanied by a detailed program of action that will be implemented within this period, Info-Prim Neo reports. Belarus is an important commercial partner of Moldova. The cooperation between Moldova and Belarus is regulated by a number of commercial and economic agreements. The agreement on the principles of economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries was signed in 1991, the free trade agreement in 1993, the agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and property in 1994, the agreement on the principles of levying indirect taxes on the export and import of goods and works in 1999. The joint efforts made to implement these agreements, the examination of the problems that appeared meanwhile by the joint intergovernmental commission and the cooperation between the chambers of trade and economic entities of the two states produced good results. Trade between Moldova and Bulgaria during 2000-2008 increased five times. The signing and ratification of the new documents by the Parliament will enable to define the areas and forms of economic cooperation and will contribute to their diversification. The major objective of the program that accompanies that economic cooperation agreement for 2010-2013 is to create joint companies that will provide goods and services on the home markets of the two countries and on third markets and to improve the export potential of the created companies. The main areas in which the companies could be founded are the agricultural machinery industry and the food processing industry. The program also envisions the creation of commercial and logistic centers and wholesale and retail commercial organizations.