The total trade turnover is expected to hit $1.1 billion. FEZ Vitebsk companies are expected to still secure a foreign trade surplus, which will rise by over 11% from 2018. The companies will continue diversifying target markets, working on the possibility of reaching Australia, Brazil, Israel, Italy, Belgium, and other countries. In 2018 deliveries to new promising markets rose by nearly 40% to $14.1 million. The top destinations included Turkey (over $7.5 million), South Korea and Japan ($1.7 million each), Kuwait (about $600,000). For the first time deliveries were made to Bahrain, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Tunisia, and other countries. Work to switch to new target markets continued. Export to Serbia rose by 10.3 times, to Switzerland by nearly 7 times, to Austria, Pakistan, and Greece by roughly 5 times. In 2018 FEZ Vitebsk companies worked with partners in 63 countries, including 24 European Union countries and ten CIS states. They exported $664.4 million worth of products, nearly 20% up from 2017. The share of export to the European Union totaled 27.3%, 3.2% up from 2017.

BelTA.