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MINSK, 1 October (BelTA) – Belarus invites UN member states to establish international cooperation in the area of digitization and technology forecasting for the sake of sustainable development. Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei made the relevant statement during the general debate held as part of the 73^rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on 1 October, BelTA has learned.

Vladimir Makei said: “The purpose of such cooperation is to help developing nations find and occupy their own niche in the global digital economy, to multiply benefits of digitization and ensure their uniform distribution.”

In his words, Belarusians understand perfectly well the importance of digital economy for sustainable and comprehensive economic growth and take the relevant steps. The Digital Economy Development Ordinance came into force in March. The Hi-Tech Park develops rapidly.

“Digital technologies are rightly described as rocket fuel for national economies. They facilitate the rapid adoption of innovations in human life, including education, consumption, and social interaction. Digital technologies make business more active, generate tangible profits, and create jobs,” noted the Belarusian minister of foreign affairs.

At the same time digitization will radically change the labor market. It will make a number of professions obsolete, making people employed in the relevant industries vulnerable. “It is obvious that the governments of developed countries and many developing ones will soon have to deal with the task of adapting their own economies to global processes of digital transformation. They will have to decide how to manage the processes effectively at the national level and how to tackle unintended social consequences of digital technologies,” believes Vladimir Makei.

Vladimir Makei welcomed the establishment of the UN high-level group on digital cooperation. The diplomat said he hopes that the group would pay close attention to the enhancement of the potential of nations in this sphere. “It is absolutely obvious that it is impossible to bolster this potential without such values as stability and prosperity for all. It is these values that represent the foundation for the tasks that countries of the world can accomplish only together. Unfortunately, these values are often sacrificed in favor of the logic of confrontational thinking that we see more and more often,” said Vladimir Makei.