MINSK, 20 April (BelTA) - The historic mandate of the UN Economic Commission for Europe to promote economic integration, trade and economic ties within the region and between the pan-European region and the rest of the world is more important than ever, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said as he spoke at the high-level segment of the 69th session of the UNECE in Geneva, BelTA learned from the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"The coronavirus pandemic has become a test for many achievements of national systems and benefits of globalization, which we saw as something inalienable, as irreversible,” Vladimir Makei noted. “Given the global political crisis caused by the growing opposition of major powers, the pandemic has become a catalyst for determining the future trends of the new reality in international relations. The most important of these trends is the desire of states to become more resilient in meeting the needs of people in the face of breakdowns in production and logistics chains."
Vladimir Makei stressed that the demand for greater stability of national economies enhanced the importance of regional cooperation.
“In recent years, the pan-European countries have sought greater resilience and self-sufficiency. At the same time, good neighborliness and regional cooperation in the UNECE area of responsibility has a special context,” he believes. “The region is home to 11 of the world's top 20 economies. Two major economic unions interact and compete here."
In this huge region spanning from Vancouver to Vladivostok, the UNECE is a unique platform for regional cooperation on social and economic issues that unites experts of all states on an equal basis, the minister noted.
“Given these circumstances, the UNECE's historic mandate to promote economic integration, trade and economic ties within the region and between the pan-European region and the rest of the world is more important than ever. It was these approaches that became central to the work of Belarus, the UNECE chairman, to strengthen the commission,” Vladimir Makei said. “We believe that the decision to bring together the UNECE bodies to work on the single end-to-end theme which is in the interests of all member state not just the beneficiaries of technical assistance is an additional tool to improve the commission's performance.”
