Belarus plans to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in biotechnologies and water purification, according to First Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Sergei Chizhik, who was speaking to BelTA, the Belarusian Telegraph Agency, ahead of talks with a delegation from Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Arabian delegation, led by the Education Minister Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Issa, is visiting the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus to discuss the prospects of science and technology cooperation between organisations of the National Academy and Saudi Arabia.

Belarus will exhibit a range of R&D solutions in Riyadh, at an exhibition on 23rd and 24th October. "The exhibition will feature, among other things, the research projects that our scientists implemented jointly with Saudi Arabia. We will lay the groundwork for new projects as we want to extend the cooperation and to shift it towards biology, biotechnologies, water purification and computer technologies," Chizhik said.

The exhibition will feature about 200 recent developments from about 30 organisations under the umbrella of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Education Ministry, the Industry Ministry and other agencies in the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, KACST.

Developments in information and communications technologies, unique industrial technologies to produce new materials, medical goods and bio- and nanotechnologies will be demonstrated in the form of full-scale samples, multimedia presentations and information materials.

The joint Belarus-Saudi Academic Symposium, featuring leading scientists of the two countries and the heads of the KACST, will take place during the exhibition. The meetings are expected to result in new cooperation agreements and contracts.

According to Chizhik, Belarusian scientists have great experience in cooperation with Saudi Arabia. "We are actively working with the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. The numerous projects in material engineering, laser technologies system and computer technologies have been implemented. We will show the Saudi Arabian delegation our capacity and will discuss promising cooperation areas such as water treatment, use of satellite images to monitor territories, laser technologies including vision systems for bad weather conditions and agricultural technologies. Cooperation in education and the training of the highly qualified staff will be also on the agenda," he said.

The Saudi Arabian delegation led by the Education Minister Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Issa is visiting the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The purpose of the visit is to discuss the prospects of science and technology cooperation between organisations of the National Academy of Sciences and Saudi Arabia. The guests visited the ongoing exhibition of achievements of national science and plan to hold talks with the heads of the academy.