Lukashenko demands more active work on investments from China.

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25/6 Tass 297

MINSK, June 25 (Itar-Tass) -- Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko
demands for more active work on investment projects with China.
"The leaders of Belarus and China have made merely unique
opportunities to have bilateral credit and investment relations," he said
over a meeting on cooperation with China on Friday. "We have got a chance
to use China's resources to modernise the national economy, and missing
this chance would be a crime."
In late 2009, the two countries achieved "break-through agreements" on
beneficial credit lines from China's government and banks worth about 15
billion dollars, he said. The money will be used for the implementation of
investment projects.
"This amount of money is almost twice more than all foreign
investments in the Belarusian economy over 2009, and by 4.5 times more
than what we have got from the IMF," Lukashenko said. "If I continue this
comparison, the money offered by China is ten times more than the loan we
have got from Russia."
"These billions should be used exclusively for the modernisation of
our economy, to raise its competitiveness, to have enterprises which would
make it possible for us to use the world prices for raw materials and
energy resources, so that we do not plead for any preferences, including
those from Russia," Lukashenko said.
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