Republic

Export of Belarusian goods in 2005 is record high and exceeds USD 16 billion

The results of the foreign economic activity in 2005 lay a good foundation for the successful work in 2006 and within the next five-year term, foreign minister of Belarus Sergei Martynov stated today at a meeting of the Collegium of the foreign political department of this republic attended by prime minister Sergei Sidorskiy, heads of state bodies and companies. Effective foreign trade is a matter of survival for Belarus, this is why pragmatic and rational approaches are applied in this field, Sergei Martynov noted. Last year the peculiarities of this policy were determined. This is aggressive foreign economic competition, export diversification, enhanced competitive power of products, new working forms and mechanisms, which envisage development of branch-wise and regional export encouragement strategies. When summing up the 2005 results one should mention that the approaches applied proved right, the foreign minister underlined. The export of goods was record high and exceeded USD 16 billion. For the first time export surpassed import. Belarus had a foreign trade surplus. The exports have significantly grown from 2004 to all regions except from Russia. In 2005 Belarus managed to cut down on its trading deficit with certain countries. Belarus gained syrplus in trade with Ukraine, the USA, France and Cuba. “The results we have achieved have come on the back of intensive efforts of the government, all ministries and concerns, oblast executive committees and Minsk City Council, the foreign ministry and diplomatic missions”, Sergei Martynov. According to him, the work should focus on intensifying contacts with the Russian Federation, the principal Belarusian trading partner. “The transition to a new VAT pattern last year highlighted our weak points in trade with Russia. In particular, the issues of the commodity distribution network. As long ago as last year a need for new approaches was pointed to in order to fully untap the existing potential”, the foreign minister said. In 2006 Belarus aims to a 13.3 per cent grow in Russia-oriented exports to replicate the record high performance of 2004. “There is no retreating from our positions on the Russian market”, Sergei Martynov stressed.