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Foreign Minister V.Makei participates in the 69th session of the UN Economic Commission for Europe

22.04.2021

On April 20, 2021 within the framework of his visit to Switzerland, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, participated in the high-level segment of the 69th session of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) as the head of the delegation of the Presiding country in 2019-2021.

In his statement, V. Makei noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the growing demand of states to strengthen neighboring and regional ties in the face of the threat of destruction of global cooperation chains. In this context, the Minister stressed that the UNECE was the only operating platform for social and economic development, which unites all states of the pan-European region from Vancouver to Vladivostok on an equal basis.

The Minister urged member states to continue to strengthen practical sectoral cooperation in Europe and UNECE as its most important instrument, including in the areas of economic cooperation and trade, with a particular focus on innovation, market access, trade facilitation, standardization and government private partnership. As part of the sectoral theme of the UNECE session, the Minister informed the participants about Belarus' voluntary commitments to introduce in the country a circular economy and sustainable use of natural resources.

During the second day of the visit of the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry to Switzerland, V.Makei met with the Director General of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. At the meeting Foreign Minister confirmed the firm intention of Belarus to continue work on the completion of the negotiations on the accession to the WT O.V. Makei informed N.Okonjo-Iweala about the current state of the negotiation process with key WTO member countries. It was noted that Belarus is the largest economy among the countries at an advanced stage of negotiations, and its early accession meets the interests of both Belarus and all WTO members. For her part, the WTO Director General thanked for the information provided and stated the importance of further expansion of the Organization.

N.Okonjo-Iweala supported Belarus' intention to join the WTO and confirmed the readiness of the WTO Secretariat to continue to provide the necessary assistance. The parties exchanged views on promoting the dialogue on the WTO reform and preparations for the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in November-December 2021. V.Makei informed about Belarus' interest in participating as an observer in the negotiations on the development of new international rules in the field of e-commerce, facilitation of investment procedures, and support for small and medium-sized enterprises. It was noted that these directions coincide with the priorities of the work of the Government of Belarus.

V.Makei also held the meeting with the UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova. The Executive Secretary praised Belarus’ efforts as the Chair of the UNECE in 2019-2021 to strengthen the capacity of the Commission, increase the efficiency and practical impact of its work. The Minister emphasized the high demand in Belarus for practical intergovernmental cooperation on the UNECE platform, as well as the importance of technical assistance to Belarus through the UNECE in the areas of innovation, ecology, housing and communal policy, population aging, development of the institution of public-private partnership. The sides reached an agreement on the provision of technical assistance to our country by the UNECE on the formation and improvement of national programs for the circular economy.

V.Makei had a meeting with the UN Deputy Secretary General, Director General of the UN Office in Geneva, personal representative of the UN Secretary General to the Conference on Disarmament Tatiana Valovaya. The interlocutors exchanged views on the current international situation. The objective global threats of climate change and the growing crisis of the political world order caused by the emerging multipolarity and the growing confrontation of the most powerful states were noted. Both sides emphasized the absence of alternatives to multilateral cooperation in solving global and transboundary problems, as well as the need to strengthen such cooperation in the format of macroregions, including relying on the concept of “integration of integrations”. T.Valovaya supported the joint initiative of Belarus and Barbados to hold a high-level international online conference at the end of May 2021 on the topic of horizontal interaction of regional integration associations. The event will focus on the positive experience of macroregions in helping their countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The Director General of the UN Office at Geneva highly appreciated the contribution of Belarus to regional and global security, including the active position on revitalizing the activity of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. The importance of countering the processes of degradation of the international security system through the strengthening of multilateral institutions was noted. At the end of the conversation, the topic of sustainable development was also discussed.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus noted that the Belarusian Government attaches great importance to the work on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as evidenced by the high 18th place of Belarus in the UN SDG rating. Minister informed about the functioning of the national mechanism for the Sustainable Development Goals. Tatyana Valovaya welcomed the efforts of the Republic of Belarus in the field of sustainable development.

 

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