On the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Mr. Vladimir Makei at the 15th UNCTAD Conference

On October 6, 2021, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Mr. Vladimir Makei addressed the 15th UNCTAD Conference, held in a virtual format.

Vladimir Makei noted that the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the growth of the world economy and international trade, exposed the vulnerability of supply chains, and slowed down the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Nevertheless, today the level of Belarus' progress towards achieving the SDGs is almost at 80%.

It was noted that Belarus ranks 24th in the rating of the Sustainable Development Goals. In the Human Development Index, Belarus took 53rd place, being in the category of countries with a very high level of human development.

The Belarusian Minister informed the Conference that Belarus supports establishing sustainable contacts and sharing best practices between various regional integration associations in order to achieve the SDGs and counter the COVID-19 pandemic. The integration topic should become an important area in the work of UNCTAD as a new dimension of multilateralism on the international agenda.

Vladimir Makei stressed that the emerging negative trend of aggressive use by Western countries of unilateral coercive measures against other sovereign states runs counter to the provisions of the UN Charter and contradicts a number of international obligations. Moreover, such illegal actions limit the possibilities in sustainable development of states under sanctions, violate the economic and social rights of citizens of these states.

The Minister expressed his conviction that the outcome of the work of the UNCTAD-15 Conference should be the actualization of the organization's mandate, which is focused on a unifying global agenda and aimed at achieving concrete practical results that will improve the well-being of people.

Print version