Opinions & Interviews

MOGILEV, 5 August (BelTA) – Joint business should be at the heart of Belarusian-Russian cooperation. Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich made the statement during the solemn ceremony held in Mogilev on 5 August to open the forum on interregional cooperation between Mogilev Oblast and Russia’s Bryansk Oblast in the sphere of youth policy within the framework of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, BelTA has learned. The forum is scheduled to take place in Mogilev on 4-5 August.

The Eurasian Economic Union and the Union State of Belarus and Russia will become successful only if the creation of the common market materializes into joint business, noted Mikhail Myasnikovich. In his opinion, joint ventures — either purely Belarusian-Russian ones or involving third countries — represent the point of no return in integration processes. A stable and long-term effect cannot be secured only through merchandise trade and administrative leverage. “All our efforts should be harnessed to reach the main goal: enabling the conditions for the operation of joint ventures and companies,” stressed the head of the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament. “We can talk a lot about unity, the desire to be together, but if there is no common cause, no common economic interests, then these principles sound unconvincing and can be subjected to all kinds of reviews and doubts.”

According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, the neighbor countries have a lot to offer to each other. The second Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia that took place in Sochi in 2015 resulted in the signing of $230 million worth of commercial trade contracts. $300 million worth of contracts were signed during the third Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia in Minsk in June 2016. These results were achieved on top of the trade and economic work Belarus and Russia do on a systemic basis.

Apart from these reserves, there is a considerable potential to be tapped into in investment business. Capital investments are necessary. They are the main condition for development, for bolstering the competitive ability of the Russian and Belarusian economies, added Mikhail Myasnikovich. “It is important for investors — either domestic or foreign ones — to know whose hands will manage these investments, whether the society can utilize this capital effectively,” he said.

The Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus pointed out that the World Bank has come up with a set of criteria and rankings. According to these rankings, Belarus is rated 45^th in the knowledge index, seven positions up in the last five years.

According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, the knowledge economy index is extremely important for investors. The index measures the state of the economic and institutional regimes, the quality of education, innovation efforts, and information and communication technologies. Belarus is rated 59^th among nearly 150 countries in the ranking. “These days nearly everything is digitized. The private sector carefully studies international rankings, improves the communication system prior to launching commercial projects in order to minimize risks,” summed up Mikhail Myasnikovich. The forum that gathered representatives of Bryansk Oblast and Mogilev Oblast is an important part of the work aimed at accumulating knowledge about each other for the sake of working together, said Mikhail Myasnikovich.