MINSK, 3 February (BelTA) - Unilateral economic measures undermine the global trade and financial system, Belarus’ Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva Larisa Belskaya said as she addressed the 77th executive session of the Trade and Development Board of UNCTAD, BelTA learned from the Belarusian permanent mission.
Larisa Belskaya dwelled on important conclusions of the UNCTAD Trade and Development Report. “The conclusion about the persistently high food prices in the world, which most of all destabilize the economy and increase the financial burden of developing countries, cannot but cause concern,” the Belarusian diplomat noted. “Fertilizer prices, according to the report, continue to remain high, exceeding the pre-pandemic levels. In other words, the problem of economic and physical accessibility of fertilizers and food, especially in low-income countries, remains acute”.
The Belarusian side agrees with the conclusion of the report: in order to ensure access to the food and fertilizer market for importing developing countries and ease their financial burden, it is necessary to prevent unfair competition in international trade, one of the elements of which are sanctions, including sanctions against Belarusian fertilizers and agricultural products.
In this context, Larisa Belskaya mentioned the recent proposal of the European Commission to impose additional restrictions on nitrogen fertilizers and agricultural products from Belarus and Russia. “What is this but another cynical and irresponsible step, which creates new risks for food security in the world and primarily in low-income countries,” she emphasized.
“UNCTAD, as mandated by the UN General Assembly, must not stand idly by. Unilateral economic measures that undermine the world trade and financial system, block the benefits of globalization for developing countries, hinder sustainable development and harm the well-being of people not only of the affected states but of the initiators of sanctions and also third countries, should be the focus of UNCTAD's attention,” the diplomat added.
Larisa Belskaya noted that Belarus has always made a significant contribution to global food security, but illegal unilateral coercive measures against our country are a factor that contributes to the threat of hunger in vulnerable countries. “Belarus is ready to constructively cooperate with UNCTAD, other UN organizations and all stakeholders to overcome the global food crisis, including by addressing the issues of unimpeded access of Belarusian and Russian fertilizers and food to the world markets,” the Permanent Representative of Belarus said.
“We welcome the attention of the authors of the report to integration issues. Belarus has seen first-hand how burgeoning regional integration and interregional ties create new opportunities for developing countries to diversify trade and effectively withstand external economic shocks,” she said. “Aligning integration potentials is one of the priorities of Belarus' chairmanship in the Eurasian Economic Union in 2025.”
Belarus proposes that UNCTAD pay more attention to integration issues in order to give a new impetus to the dialogue among integration groups and to create additional conditions for the “integration of integrations”.
“In this context, we renew our proposal to the UNCTAD secretary general to inform the Trade and Development Board on the progress in the Bridgetown Pact in terms of facilitating dialogue among economic integration structures with a view to enhancing mutual trade and sharing best practices and experiences to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Belarus will continue to support the efforts of UNCTAD member states and the Secretariat to strengthen global partnerships and interregional integration,” Larisa Belskaya summed up.
