MINSK, 6 November (BelTA) - Belarus proposes to accelerate the resumption of passenger traffic in the CIS, Belarus Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said at a meeting of the CIS Heads of Government Council on 6 November, BelTA has learned.
"I believe that we have recently made great strides in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and localizing its hotbeds, which gives grounds to take more active steps to resume full-fledged passenger service between our countries, which, of course, will give momentum to the economies of our states," Roman Golovchenko said.
He noted that a combination of factors in 2020, particularly pandemic response, had slowed the development of certain economy sectors in the CIS. The merchandise trade between CIS countries decreased by 16.6% in January-July. In January-August, the volume of industrial production in the CIS shrank by 4% year-on-year. Cargo shipments went down by 4.8% and passenger traffic by more than a quarter, by 28%.
"The difficult situation faced by the whole world has shown the futility of protectionist measures on the part of states and proved the viability of the actions to expand integration cooperation, which Belarus has always supported," the prime minister said.
