A.Korol: Belarus is to become an important link of the Silk Road Economic Belt
09.11.2016Aleksandr Korol, the Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus in the Republic of Lithuania: Belarus is to become an important link of the Silk Road Economic Belt
The magazine «Jūra. Море. Sea», №6 (94) 2016
Mr Ambassador, in the past two decades your activities focused on the issues of economic and international cooperation. What’s the importance of the foreign economic relations for Belarus and what’s new in the development of the relations with the neighbouring Lithuania?
The Republic of Belarus is a country with an active foreign trade policy (export makes more than 55 % of the country’s GDP). Therefore, we find multi-trade and economic cooperation with foreign countries of vital importance. Belarus has more than 140 foreign trade partners all over the world. In Europe these include Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Netherlands and Great Britain.
Historical neighbourhood helps to develop a dynamic and efficient cooperation between Belarus and Lithuania. Lithuania is one of Belarus’ leading foreign partners in Europe and the world, ranking as the 8th in the total goods turnover and the 6th in Belarusian exports. We also successfully cooperate in the fields of transport-transit and investments, while our bilateral trade shows positive growth.
The development of industrial cooperation, efficient crediting and financial support for trade transactions and joint access to the markets of the third countries contribute to the growth of trade and economic cooperation.
Cooperation with Lithuania allows Belarus to make use of the opportunities of the EU, while Lithuania, in turn, gets an access to a 180-million market of the Eurasian Economic Union. Thus, the mutual benefit is obvious for both countries representing different integration structures.
How did the different sanctions implemented and lifted by Europe and other countries influence the formation and development of the Belarusian economy? What does the suspension of European sanctions mean in practice?
First of all I would like to emphasize that the concept of a sanction contradicts the logic of international relations. Such actions have a negative impact on both countries, rather than just the one that the sanctions are imposed against. Therefore, we stand for a complete abolition of all sanctions in order to develop full mutual cooperation among countries and regions.
Speaking of the present situation, the suspension of sanctions regarding Belarus may lead to significant positive changes both in our country’s foreign policy and foreign trade. Besides, 25 Belarusian companies can now receive financial support from the European Investment Bank.
What are the plans for the Belarusian economic strategy for the next ten years?
Belarus is currently working on the economic development strategy for the upcoming 15 years. The document is yet to pass public readings, including the expert community and non-governmental organizations. The project is to be submitted to the Council of Ministers by November 2016. However, I can give a short description of the framework of the document.
The country’s sustainable development will be based on three pillars – people, economics and ecology. This allows us to define our five major priorities. First – the human potential and its efficient use. Here we speak of the index of human development. Belarus ranks as 53rd among the countries of the world already today and we will do our best to climb to the 40th.
Second – the accelerated development of high-tech industries and services. Third – the growth of the national export. Fourth – the improvement of the institutional environment and the formation of a favourable business climate. Fifth – more environmental-friendly production and environmental safety.
The implementation of these tasks will involve making economic and structural changes in the country, including reforming the state management sector, as well as modernising and developing the market system.
Many of today’s international events and tribunes talk of the support for the ideas of the New Silk Road. The long-term initiative of One Belt, One Road, declared by China in 2013, which received enthusiastic global support, did not pass unnoticed by Belarus as well. Belarus has got a chance to become one of the strategic points in the New Silk Road. The arrival of the China Merchant Group, investments and the construction of the industrial park with a romantic title of The Great Stone, promise Belarus not only industrial development, but also the perspectives of becoming an active transit point. How does Belarus see and evaluate these perspectives?
Without any false modesty I could say that Belarus is designed to become an important chain of the Silk Road Economic Belt. First of all, that is predetermined by the high level of political trust between the leaders of Belarus and China. The governments of both countries have already signed a contract regarding cooperation within the framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the implementation of which will strengthen and extend valuable contacts between the two countries.
In geographical terms Belarus is situated in a very important strategic location, with the entries to the huge markets of the EU and EAEC, as well as the Baltic and the Black seas.
In order to define the scale of the Belarusian and Chinese cooperation, I would like to note that under the economic situation of the stagnating global market in 2015 the volumes of our bilateral trade reached USD 3.2 billion (showing a growth of 5.6 %). China is our third largest foreign trade partner with increasing investment and credit interaction – the total volume of Chinese investments in Belarus making USD 1.84 billion.
Currently countries are actively involved into the development of a 7 billion credit line, declared by the Chinese President Xi Jingping, who visited Belarus last year. We are currently implementing 30 joint projects in the fields of electric power, energy resources, railroad electrification, road reconstruction, construction of cement factories, car assembly, as well as medium-sized and small business.
We also focus a lot of attention to the construction and development of the Chinese-Belarusian Great Stone industrial park. Our countries are working to make the industrial park become an open, mutually-beneficial and environmental-friendly platform for international industrial cooperation. It is to become a pearl in the Silk Road Economic Belt.
One of the latest news is using the opportunities of the Great Stone for producing component parts for the joint Belarusian-Chinese producer of MTZ tractors. The parts will be manufactured at Vilnius-based SC Amkodor–Baltic company. The Chinese Zoomlion company participating in the project is one of the leading producers of agricultural machinery in the world.
This year the international Belarusian Transport Week Transport &Logistics celebrates its 10th anniversary. At one of the first conferences of this event the Belarusian Minister of Transport of that time expressed his satisfaction about the concept of logistics growing stronger in the country, although, according to him, it was only several years ago that not many Belarusians knew it at all. What is the place and meaning of the present-day logistics in the Belarusian transport system and strategy?
A key position, certainly.
We have already established 20 successfully working logistics centres in Belarus. Their total warehousing capacity is more than 400 thousand sq.m.
In July 2016 the government has approved the national program for the development of the logistics system and transit potential until the year 2020, which has predicted expanding volumes of logistics services and total warehousing area at logistics centres. The program focuses on further modernisation of the logistics infrastructure, developing international cooperation in the field of logistics and attracting foreign investments. All this will help to develop the strategic partnership between countries, including the framework of the Great Stone industrial park and the initiative of the Silk Road Economic Belt.
Thank you for your answers.
Interviewed Zita Tallat-Kelpšaitė
