Ivan Krupko. Image credit: gomel-region.gov.by
GOMEL, 18 September (BelTA) – Thanks to diplomacy agreements become real deeds and contracts become strong bridges of cooperation. Chairman of the Gomel Oblast Executive Committee Ivan Krupko made the statement at a meeting with heads of diplomatic missions of foreign states, who are accredited in Belarus, and heads of the delegations of the regions that are Gomel Oblast’s partners, BelTA has learned.
The Gomel Economic Forum is taking place in the city upon Sozh on 18-19 September and has brought together about 500 participants from various countries. “Our forum gathers people, who know how to look into the future and take steps towards each other. Today when the world is rapidly changing, it is particularly important to see each other as partners instead of rivals, as friends instead of competitors. The international situation has been complicated for the last few years. All of us witness the gradual collapse of the unipolar world system where decisions are dictated from one center. It is being replaced with a multipolar system where equality and respect are appreciated. Belarus and Russia in a union with our partners demonstrate that cooperation based on trust and mutual support produces good fruits,” Ivan Krupko said.
According to the Gomel Oblast governor, diplomats play a special role in conditions of the so-called new reality. “Your mission is not limited to the protocol and negotiations. You help open new pages of the cultural dialogue, enable conditions for educational and humanitarian contacts, and reinforce friendship between nations. It is thanks to diplomacy that agreements become real deeds and contracts become strong bridges,” he stressed.
Ivan Krupko drew attention to the multifaceted nature of the areas determined by the country’s foreign policy. “In the last two years Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko actively visited the countries, with which we have a cooperation history and development prospects. Working trips to Russia have made union relations stronger, allowed expanding integration projects in economy, manufacturing sector, and security. Visits to China have become a testimony to the strategic nature of our ties. I mean the creation of new manufacturing facilities, the development of scientific and technical projects, and joint work on third-country markets. Contacts in Asia – in Pakistan, the UAE, and Oman –have demonstrated that Belarus can be and wants to be an active player in the region, offering not only products but also technologies, education programs, and cultural exchanges,” he said. The official continued the recitation by mentioning a noticeable increase in cooperation and mutual interest with Africa.
The head of the Gomel Oblast administration mentioned careful steps in dialogue with the West. “Recent negotiations at the level of the USA have demonstrated that even the most complicated relations can be switched to a constructive track. It opens up an opportunity to broader international interaction and enhances Belarus’ positions as a mediator and a partner. All of it is the result of the consistent foreign policy. It is on this foundation that our regional diplomacy is built, including here, in Gomel where representatives of various countries have gathered today. We are united by the key thing: the craving for peace, for creation, for a decent future for our nations,” he stressed.
The head of the region called for fruitful work because the forum offers an intensive program. “In the year of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet nation’s Victory in the Great Patriotic War a ceremony will take place to lay wreaths and flowers to a legendary T-34 tank and at the sign commemorating victims of the Belarusian nation’s genocide – the Tree of Life Memorial – which are located at the site of the former transit camp Dulag 121 where over 100,000 Soviet prisoners of war were eliminated by the Nazi during the Great Patriotic War. Later on the plenary session of the 19th Gomel Economic Forum will take place where we will continue communication. The region’s potential will also be presented at an exhibition of Gomel Oblast’s main exporters. I am confident that staying in the hospitable Gomel land will give you only pleasant impressions,” he concluded.
Over the years the Gomel Economic Forum has become a recognized and respectable platform for discussing topical matters of international trade, economic, investment interaction, for establishing reliable long-term interregional ties and manufacturing cooperation ties.
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