The Meeting in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Students of the Economics faculty had a meeting with the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus

On 27 February 2020, Professor of the Department of Economic Theory, Doctor of Economics, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus, Larisa Pakush organized the visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the first and third-year students of the Economics faculty.

The students were met by the First Deputy Minister Andrei Evdochenko, who spoke about the structure of the Ministry, its functions and tasks, focusing on foreign economic activity of the Republic of Belarus as well.

Andrei Evdochenko spoke about foreign economic activity of the Republic of Belarus, bilateral and multilateral relations with other countries over the year of 2019. He noted that the international situation in 2019 was characterized by its instability, the desire of world players to put their own national interests above the common benefit.  In these conditions the Republic of Belarus demonstrates resistance to unfavourable external factors, and the ability to mitigate their influence.

Special attention was paid to the internal state of the economy in the current 2020 (January-February). The volume of industrial production amounted to 113.5 billion rubles, decreased by 3.3% compared to the same period in 2019, though the volume of agricultural exports increased to 6%.

The Russian Federation remains the main trading partner of the Republic of Belarus. Russia accounts for more than 38% of exports and more than 59% of imports. At the same time the Russian Federation almost completely provided its population with food products (eggs, poultry meat, pork). This situation specified the problem of diversification of Belarusian agricultural exports and demanded the search for new markets.

Another important direction of the conversation is the accession of the Republic of Belarus to the WTO. A.Evdochenko noted that at the end of 2020 the Republic of Belarus has every chance to become a member of the World Trade Organization.

Summing up the conversation Andrei Evdochenko pointed out the important tasks that need to be solved in order to stabilize the economy in the Republic of Belarus. These tasks are as follows:

• to receive return from upgraded enterprises;
• to deepen local raw materials processing (wood, meat, dairy products, etc.);
• to increase export potential at the expense of growth points, such as a high-tech park, the industrial park "Great Stone," the special economic zone (Orsha district), etc.;
• to ensure optimal approaches to import substitution;
• to pay special attention to the service sector development, and to create a single market of services within the framework of the EAEU;
• to intensify digitalization of economic sectors;
• to provide training specialists for the new economy.

It should be noted that there was a keen interest in the issues raised. The students from the Republic of Turkmenistan asked questions about the cooperation between the two states. The first deputy minister replied that Belarusian-Turkmen cooperation is productively developing. The trade turnover between Belarus and Turkmenistan amounted to 32.2 million dollars in 2018, $27.6 million of which is the export of Belarusian goods.

Another issue the visa regime, in particular the possibility of students from Turkmenistan to visit the EU.

The students showed interest in the possibility of practical training of BSAA students in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus. A.Evdochenko noted that such cooperation is possible within the framework of the existing approaches.

At the end of the trip, students and teachers visited the Foreign Ministry Museum, where they got acquainted with the history of the Belarusian diplomatic service. The program also provided a visit to the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History.

 In conclusion, on behalf of the students, we would like to thank the organizers of this visit: Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus Larisa Pakush, tutors of the first and third-year students Olga Fedchenko - a senior teacher of the Department of economics and international economic relations in the agro-industrial complex, and Aleksandra Goncharova –  an assistant of the abovementioned department.

The trip proved to be very useful, as it forms the professional qualities necessary to work in the future. We got acquainted with the foreign economic activity of the Republic of Belarus, which is directly related to our speciality. And such excursions as we had in the Museum of Great Patriotic War History make us true patriots of our native land!

O.Volosach, G.Gurbanmyradov, T.Krynin, H.Ovezkuliev,

Y.Dovbenko, K.Beldinazarov and other students of

Economics Faculty