MINSK, 12 February (BelTA) – Delegates of the 6th Belarusian People's Congress have adopted the resolution and the address, BelTA has learned.
Belarusian People's Congress adopts resolution
The chairman of the editorial commission Valery Mitskevich noted that the congress was preceded by a large public discussion organized in different formats. A total of 1,200 dialogue platforms were set up to bring together representatives of public organizations and political parties, business communities, student and working youth. Community liaison offices were set up across all regions of the country.
More than 1,400 people sent their proposals to the official website of the Belarusian People's Congress. All in all, more than 17,000 proposals concerning the country's development were submitted to the organizing committee. The discussion dealt with a wide range of topics: economy, social affairs, youth policy, social development, state construction. Most of the proposals regarding the social and economic development were included in the main provisions of the draft program of social and economic development of Belarus for 2021-2025," said Valery Mitskevich.
The congress discussed the country's social and economic and social and political development for two days. "We heard the reports from representatives of industry and agriculture, business and public organizations, youth, clergy, civil servants, and experts. I think everyone will agree that the discussion was sincere and interested. We heard various opinions and proposals. But all of them were united by one thing - a responsible civil position and the desire to do everything possible for the development and prosperity of our homeland, a strong and independent Belarus,” Valery Mitskevich said. “More than 140 letters and proposals were received from the delegates of the congress and ordinary people. In my opinion, this is an eloquent testimony to the genuine interest of people, their understanding of the decisive role this forum will play in the history of modern Belarus,” he said.
All these proposals were studied, summarized and systematized. “Taking into account the main points of the president's report, speeches of the participants and proposals received, the editorial commission has finalized the draft resolution of the Sixth Belarusian People's Congress,” Valery Mitskevich added. He read out the text of the resolution to the delegates and invitees. It was followed by voting.
“The analysis of the outcomes of the previous five-year plan suggests that despite external challenges and restrictions the decisions of the Fifth Belarusian People's Congress have been largely implemented. Living standards were improved, the security and sovereignty of the country were retained. GDP per capita (PPP based) increased over the five years by 14% to reach $20,200 in 2020. The employment rate remained steady, the real salary grew more than 1.3 times, prices were kept in check,” the resolution reads.
Life expectancy reached 74.5 years, which is in many ways attributed to a high level of Belarusian public healthcare system. Belarus ranks 25th on Mothers' Index. Everyone has access to quality education. Belarus maintains high positions in education.
Belarus reduced administrative burden for businesses and cut the number of verification and control activities. Belarus ranked 49th out of 190 economies in the world on the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking 2020. However, a number of issues remain unresolved. Belarus seeks to achieve a more significant growth in GDP, exports and investment. Red tape in managerial decision-making has not yet been totally eliminated. The development of e-government has not been completed. There is a need for new incentives to improve the demographic situation in the country.
“The 6th Belarusian People's Congress rules to approve the main provisions of Belarus' social and economic development program for 2021-2025 and to support its main goal which is to ensure stability in the society and growth of the people's welfare by modernizing the economy, building up social capital, creating comfortable conditions for living, working and self-fulfillment. The social state will remain the unchanged national brand of Belarus,” the document says.
The 6th Belarusian People's Congress rules to identify the following priorities for the upcoming five-year period: happy family - strengthening traditional family values based on physical and spiritual wellbeing, education of children and youth, care for the older generation; strong regions - comfortable and safe living and working conditions, developed social infrastructure, high mobility, investments in new efficient production; smart environment - quality and accessible education, personal fulfillment, science advancement, the development of a new type of educational system aimed at raising a citizen, forming skills and competencies that fully meet the needs of the economy; state as a partner - strengthening dialogue and mutual trust between the state and society, the state and the individual, the state and business.
Priority will be given to the following tasks: improving living standards through developing the family policy and strengthening the nation's health; promoting accelerated and balanced regional development with the help of creating new enterprises, a comfortable living environment, well-developed transport and social infrastructure outside Minsk and the regional centers; strengthening the manufacturing industry by dint of upgrading traditional enterprises, setting up new high-technology industries, and increasing the processing of domestic raw materials.
The key areas will include raising competitiveness of agriculture by improving land management; assimilating effective technologies and digitization; advancing cooperation in production of agricultural and food products; facilitating the development of the services sector by tapping into the transit and logistics potential, boosting domestic and inbound tourism, improving the quality and accessibility of social services; advancing digital transformation by means of introducing ICT and cutting-edge industrial technologies into all fields and improving people's information literacy.
According to the document, the foreign policy will focus on expanding geographic reach of export, advancing mutually beneficial integration within the framework of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, the EAEU, and the CIS, as well as strengthening the strategic cooperation with China.
The key economic factors in 2021-2025 will be the efficient distribution of resources, the improvement of the public assets management system, equal development of organizations of all forms of ownership. However, the state will not sell its property only because of external advice. State-run enterprises will be protected, their employees will be confident that their jobs will be preserved. The social and economic policy will prioritize topical aspects of people's lives such as fair pricing, affordable tariffs for main services, effective employment and decent salaries.
The Belarusian People's Congress instructed government bodies to take comprehensive measures to reach the goal and to implement the priority guidelines of the country's social and economic development. As far as the social and political development is concerned, it is necessary to approve proposals to guarantee the participation of different population groups in the preparation and implementation of the state policy priorities recognizing the Belarusian People's Congress as a supreme form of people's representation with the legal confirmation of its special legal status; to create a constitutional commission from representatives of government bodies, the legal community, various branches of the economy and the social sector.
This commission shall put forward proposals in 2021 to amend the Constitution of Belarus and submit these proposals for public discussion and to the national referendum; redistribute authorities between government bodies, including between local government and self-government bodies; strengthen the role of political parties in the life of the country; support creative initiatives of the civil society aimed at the resolution of certain social and economic problems, improvement of living standards, promotion of youth initiatives; develop a program of patriotic education, promote traditional moral values and priorities of the Belarusian nation.
Within a seven-day period, the resolution will be submitted to the head of state for consideration and adopting appropriate decisions.
