KHARTOUM, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Sudan and Belarus signed a cooperation agreement here on Monday in the field of mining and minerals exploration.
A signing ceremony was held at the Sudanese Minerals Ministry, where Minerals Minister Ahmed Mohamed Saddiq al-Karouri signed for Sudan, and Belarusian minister of natural resources and environment protection signed for his country.
"The agreement covered many aspects relating to investment in the field of mining and industrial and agricultural minerals," said Mohamed Abu Fatma Abdalla, director of Sudan's General Authority for Geological Research.
He added that the agreement also covered other areas including investment, environmental studies, labs development, legislations cooperation and introduction of modern technologies.
He said an executive committee from the Sudanese and Belarusian minerals ministries will implement the agreement.
Around 461 companies are operating in the mining field in Sudan, where the mining sector constitutes 40 percent of the country's exports.
Sudan's gold production jumped to 93.4 tons in 2016, making the nation ranks second after South Africa in gold production in Africa, according to Sudan's minerals ministry.
Sudanese statistics indicate that around one million Sudanese employees work in the traditional mining industry in Sudan.
