Business news

MINSK, 11 July (BelTA) – Belarus has reached a steady export volume growth tendency. Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei made the statement during the government conference held on 11 July to discuss Belarus’ foreign policy priorities in modern times, BelTA has learned.

According to Vladimir Makei, export is an absolute priority in the work of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassies. “We reached a steady month export growth tendency in December 2016. It has been in place for half a year. In May we gained 30% already. It is important that in 2017 an export increase was secured thanks to the increase in average export prices by nearly 16% and thanks to the increase in the physical volume of export in most of the commodity groups,” noted the minister of foreign affairs. In his words, products other than raw materials account for $1.7 billion of the $2 billion overall increase in Belarus’ export. The fact testifies to a substantial improvement of the product structure of the export.

Vladimir Makei stressed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is intent on responding to forestall emerging threats and challenges in specific situations and the overall strategy. “Instead of weakening we should reinforce the country’s position in the economic sphere and the political sphere,” said Vladimir Makei.

Vladimir Makei stated that persistent diversification of foreign trade with the equal distribution of exports between the markets of the Eurasian Economic Union, the European Union, and the distant-arc countries is the key task for the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as far as export is concerned. “We didn’t reach the desired results in January-May. The Eurasian Economic Union received 47.4% of Belarus’ export, the European Union got 26.6%, and the distant-arc countries ended up with 26%. However, if we had observed the required proportions, we would have lost some of the Russian market. We should aim to secure the equal distribution of export by stepping up shipments to conventional markets as well as new markets instead of shuffling products from one market to another,” noted Vladimir Makei.

The official went on saying that in January-May Belarusian companies penetrated markets of 17 countries. “It is now necessary to explore the new markets, expand presence on the far markets where we operate already. It is necessary to put systemic efforts into removing the restrictions on our export to these markets. Instruments for accomplishing that goal have been developed and are actively used,” said Vladimir Makei.

In his words, it is necessary to continue persistent work together with partners in the Eurasian Economic Union to sign modern trade agreements with third countries. “Such an agreement has already been signed with Vietnam. Work is in progress with Iran, Egypt, India, Israel, and Singapore. The second package of 12 countries we should start negotiating with after the ongoing negotiations are over has been worked out. For many distant-arc countries Belarus looks interesting particularly because we are part of the Eurasian Economic Union,” said Vladimir Makei.