MINSK, August 30. /TASS/. Belarus and Russia in the first half of the year increased mutual trade by 16.9% year-on-year, according to State Secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus Dmitry Mezentsev.

"Expanding cooperation in industry, agriculture, petrochemistry, and the service sector, as well as successful regional interaction, fundamentally ensure the progressive growth of mutual trade between Belarus and Russia. A growth of 16.9% was reached in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022," Mezentsev told reporters.

At the same time, he emphasized that "the volume of export of goods from Belarus to Russia over this period (the first half of the year - TASS) increased by 37.7%."

He stressed that Minsk and Moscow are currently carrying out 16 approved collaborative industrial projects. Joint ventures are being proposed in the aerospace sector, the manufacturing of equipment and components for automotive and agricultural engineering companies, and a variety of other fields. "We continue to work on strengthening the common foundations of economic integration," Mezentsev noted.

He emphasized the importance of four intergovernmental agreements signed in 2022-2023 - on a common industrial policy; on recognizing technological operations on the Union State territory; on the development of microelectronic technologies, design and production of electronic component base and electronic engineering; and on the development of the machine tool industry.

"Our relations also have their own special most important resource - this is trust, mutual understanding, and open dialogue," Mezentsev added.