MINSK, 29 December (BelTA) – Belarus can be an example in many ways not only for the post-Soviet space, Sergei Rakhmanov, a member of the Council of Elders under the Presidium of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, said as he answered a reporters' question about expectations from the 6th Belarusian People's Congress, BelTA has learned.
“I think we should not dwell on expectations here. Everyone should make a contribution. Instead of waiting for someone to say something, people should put forward proposals they deem necessary. I think that the Council of Elders will focus on that; we want to join the efforts to develop proposals and come up with a way to voice all these proposals at the Belarusian People's Congress and to present them to people. This all should be real, not declarative. Unfortunately, many countries come up with all kinds of strategies that remain only on paper. We don't need this. We need to roll out a product that would be real, feasible, appreciable and comprehensible,” Sergei Rakhmanov said.
According to him, everyone should be involved in this process. “I think there will be all kinds of topics on the agenda. First of all, we need to improve our economy. It should become more sustainable and it should grow despite the crisis, so that we have progress in certain areas. In this regard, we need to strengthen analytical work and develop industry strategies. This will help us build a better understanding of what we should do to promote not only traditional industries, but also new industries in order to stay competitive on the global market. Competition is growing, and traditional approaches will no longer survive. Therefore, we need to make products with a higher added value that will be more sophisticated and science-intensive. Therefore, it is imperative to involve science in this process. It is necessary to build an adequate national innovation system in line with the best international standards. This means that education, science, manufacturing, private business, finance, and the management should get involved. In this case, I think, we will cope with all our tasks,” he said.
Sergei Rakhmanov commented on the issues related to mass media. “It is clear that the crisis prompted the emergence of many points of view. And not everyone, including outside Belarus, likes what is going on here, because Belarus is like a thorn in the side for many of our opponents. It upsets someone that we are handling this global crisis pretty well. They don't like the fact that we are implementing the principles of a welfare state. Therefore, we must defend our sovereignty in the media landscape. For this we need to take an active stance, including on the Internet, because it is used by many people, especially the youth. Probably the best thing to do is to give a better exposure to our success stories. There are many things where Belarus can be an example not only for the post-Soviet states, but also for the whole world. We are reaching world-class standards in a number of areas, and our people should be aware of this, just like our partners and opponents. Therefore, we need to put together all our achievements, build a system and move into the future, no matter how difficult it may seem,” he said.
The Belarusian People's Congress will be held in Minsk on 11-12 February. The delegates will discuss Belarus' social and economic development program for 2021-2025 and major areas of the country's social and political development. The 6th Belarusian People's Congress will bring together 2,700 delegates and invited persons.
