Andrei Savinykh, the Chairman of the Standing Committee on International Affairs of the House of Representatives, and Pavel Popko, a member of the Standing Committee on International Affairs, Head of the working group on cooperation with the parliaments of Southern Africa of the National Assembly of Belarus, will take part in the second international parliamentary conference "Russia - Africa" organized by the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in Moscow on 18-21 March, BelTA learned from the press service of the House of Representatives.

The conference will bring together MPs and leading experts from more than 50 African countries and a number of international parliamentary organizations, representatives of business circles, the scientific and educational communities, and state authorities. The event is designed to strengthen interaction with the countries of the African continent.

The conference are set to discuss the contribution of parliamentarians to the comprehensive development of cooperation with African states.

The program of the forum includes a plenary session and four roundtable discussions. Andrei Savinykh is expected to speak at the discussion "Neocolonialism of the West: how to prevent the repetition of history" and Pavel Popko - at the panel discussion "Parliamentary support of cooperation in the field of science and education".

On the sidelines of the conference the Belarusian MPs will hold bilateral meetings with MPs of African countries, and convey Belarus' position on topical issues of the development of cooperation between Belarus and Africa.