Contemporary Belarus counts on knowledge, talent and intelligence. Energetic, hard-working and gifted people is the main asset of the country, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said at the meeting with gifted students and youth, laureates of the special funds of the President. “Knowledge, talent and intelligence underpin the strategy of the socio-economic development of Belarus. One of the major tasks of the state is to find and bring up young talents,” the head of state...

In 2008, Belarus hopes to attract capital investments worth $17 billion, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky told a session of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments in Minsk. According to him, it will account for around 90% of the total investments attracted for the previous five years. According to Sergei Sidorsky, in 2006-2010, the capital investments are expected to quadruple as against the previous five years. Their volume is projected to exceed $80 billion. In 2007,...

In line with the cooperation agreement between the Culture Ministries of Belarus and Russia, 2009 will be announced as the Year of the Russian Culture in Belarus and 2010 will become the Year of the Belarusian Culture in Russia, First Deputy Culture Minister of Belarus Vladimir Rylatko told reporters on May 30. The agreement on culture cooperation is expected to be inked during the 17th international festival of arts Slavonic Bazaar in Vitebsk. Culture Minister of the Russian Federation...

The modernisation of all Belarusian hospitals will be completed in this five-year plan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was told as he visited Minsk City Emergency Aid Clinic on May 29. “On the whole, the modernisation of all medical institutions will be completed in this five-year plan. They should be advanced to the top level and kept there,” said the head of state. He underscored, medical institutions should be fitted with the latest equipment. “If we buy something...

The international forum of foreign graduates of Belarusian universities will become traditional, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Kosinets said at the opening ceremony of the forum that was held in the Palace of Republic on May 29. He noted that this event is taking place in Belarus for the first time though students from more than 100 countries of the world have been studying in Belarus since 1961. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, “the citizens of foreign countries are our friends...

The House of Representatives of the National Assembly passed the bill “National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus” in the second reading on May 28. Chairman of the Development, Local Self-Government and Regulations Commission Ivan Semenenya said, the bill was given the first reading in January 2000. According to the MP, the document will enable a uniform approach to implementing articles of the Constitution, which regulate the status of the National Assembly and the law-making...

The House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus has ratified the Belarusian-Polish intergovernmental agreement on mutual travels. Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Viktor Gaisenok said, the agreement is supposed to regulate terms of entry, exit, temporary stay and transit in and via Poland and Belarus for citizens of the two states, including facilitated visa procedures for some population categories. According to the agreement citizens of one state can stay in the other...

Belarus and the European Union are mutually interested in the further development of economic relations, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vadim Popov said in an interview to May edition of the magazine “Belaruskaya Dumka”. “When somebody is trying to label our products as being noncompetitive, unpopular and low-quality, it can be opposed to the following figures”: 44-46% of the Belarusian export accounts for the EU member states. It means...

The civil society can not develop without active and transparent activity of non-commercial organizations, Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov told a session of the CIS Council of Justice Ministers in Minsk on May 28. The Russian minister noted that the Russian policy of setting up the conditions for the activity of non-commercial public organizations is aimed at protecting the interests of citizens and observing the balance of private and state interests. According to the...

European states do not fully realize the importance of the contribution of Belarus to the regional stability, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said at the meeting with Antonio Maria Costa, UN Under-Secretary-General, Director General of the UN Office in Vienna, Executive Director of the UNO in Minsk on May 27. “Unfortunately, European states underestimate the role we play in preventing international crime. Belarus is an effective barrier which blocks the way for this evil which...