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WEEKLY DIGEST
OF BELARUSIAN NEWS
November 1, 2007
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NATIONAL NEWS
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Commission of European Communities to Open Representative Office in
Belarus
On October 19, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko approved a draft
Agreement between the Republic of Belarus and the Commission of the European
Communities on establishing, privileges and immunities of the Representative
Office of the Commission of the European Communities in Belarus.
In line with the draft Agreement, Belarus gives consent to establish the
Representative Office of the Commission of the European Communities on its
territory. Belarus also recognizes legal personality of every European
community on its territory as well as its rights to conclude contracts, buy
property and administer estate, so they could perform their functions. The
Commission of the European Communities will represent the interests of the
European communities in Belarus.
On a reciprocal basis Belarus gives the Representative Office, its head and
officials as well as members of their families living in Belarus the rights,
privileges and immunities stipulated in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic
Relations of April 18, 1961 for diplomatic missions (in particular, sanctity
of offices, correspondence and archives, immunity against criminal
jurisdiction, tax concessions). Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Belarus Valery Voronetsky has been authorized to negotiate the draft
Agreement.
Minsk Hosts Days of German Economy
The Days of
German Economy will be held in Minsk on November 1-3. The main part of the
events will be held in the building of the National Library of Belarus on
November 2. The program of the Days includes a contact-cooperation exchange
for Belarusian and German companies and a solemn meeting with the
participation of businessmen and officials of both the countries.
The main
goal of the Days is to encourage the bilateral cooperation in the field of
trade and investments due to establishing direct contacts between
representatives of business circles of Belarus and Germany. The sides intend
to determine new directions and forms of the economic cooperation.
Attending
the forum will be around 400 guests. The German delegation will include
businessmen, parliamentarians, officials of the Federal Ministry of Economy
and Technologies, the German Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and
the Federal Bureau of Foreign-Economic Information. The German industry will
be represented by such branches as machine-building, power engineering,
chemical industry, instrument making, production of construction materials,
banking business, transport, judicial and consulting services.
The Days
were organized by the German-Belarusian Economic Club and the German Economy
Representation Office in Belarus under the auspices of the German Embassy in
Belarus, the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technologies and the
German Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with the
National Investment Agency of Belarus.
Over the
eight months this year, the bilateral trade turnover between Belarus and
Germany totaled $1 billion 774 million, or 18.9 percent up as against the
same period 2006. In 2006 the German investments in Belarus totaled $401.7
million or 2.7 times up as against 2005. In H1 2007, the German investments
in the Belarusian economy reached $236.1 million. There are 360 companies
with German capital in Belarus (212 joint ventures and 148 foreign
companies). There are 78 affiliates of German companies in Belarus.
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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
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UNCTAD Ranks Belarus 47th Globally in Terms of Investment Attractiveness
Minsk
recently hosted a press conference for the World Investment Report 2007.
Prepared by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for the 17th
time, it includes data on direct foreign investments into global economies.
According to the Report, Belarus is ranked 47th globally in terms of
investment attractiveness. In 2000, it occupied the 65th place
but, from 2000-2006, investments into the country doubled.
Next year,
the UNCTAD is to join the UNDP in rendering technical assistance to Belarus
in its joining the WTO. According to Cihan Sultanoglu, UN Resident
Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative, officials are to be trained and
expertise shared. Meanwhile, the organizations are to give an objective view
on Belarus’ investment policy, assessing legal and administrative issues
relating to foreign investments. Recommendations will be made to improve the
situation, based on the most recent international experience. “Preparations
for these two projects are almost complete; they’ll be initiated in early
2008,” Ms. Sultanoglu noted. The projects are part of the ‘Memorandum on
Priority Directions for Cooperation in the Field of Foreign Trade,
Investments and Development’ signed in July 2007 during a visit by UNCTAD
Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi to Belarus. According to the World
Investment Report 2007, Belarus has been seeing growing direct foreign
investments since 2004.
UN Secretary General: Belarus Initiative for Chernobyl Deserves
Attention
General Ban
Ki-moon believes that Belarus’ proposal for declaring the third decade after
the Chernobyl disaster a decade for the sustainable development of the
affected areas deserves attention. The opinion is voiced by the UN Secretary
General’s report concerning the reinforcement of international cooperation
and coordination of efforts for studying and minimizing consequences of the
Chernobyl catastrophe. The report “Optimization of international efforts for
studying, alleviating and minimizing consequences of the Chernobyl
catastrophe” was publicized prior to the Chernobyl issue discussions the UN
General Assembly is supposed to hold on November 19.
The
proposal for declaring the third decade after the Chernobyl disaster a
decade for the sustainable development of the affected areas was put forward
at the international conference “20 Years after Chernobyl: Strategy for
Recovery and Sustainable Development of the Affected Regions”. The
conference was held in Minsk and Gomel on April 19-26, 2006.
The UN
Secretary General’s report informs about the intention to put together a
plan of actions within the UN framework in order to revive the
Chernobyl-affected areas. UN member-states are holding unofficial
consultations about the draft resolution on Chernobyl. The resolution is
traditionally prepared by delegations of the three most affected countries –
Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine – and is submitted for consideration of the
General Assembly once in two years. The present resolution suggests adopting
an official decision for the United Nations to declare the Chernobyl decade
and prepare a plan of actions the UN will take in this regard.
Belarus to Partake in CWC Conference in Hague
Belarus
will take part in the 12th session of the Conference of the States Parties
to the Chemical Weapons Convention in the Hague, the Netherlands, on
November 5-9. The Belarusian delegation will be led by Vladimir Gerasimovich,
Ambassador of Belarus to the Netherlands, Permanent Representative to the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The CWC
Conference is supposed to sum up the CWC execution in 2007, to adopt the
OPCW program and the budget for the next year. The Conference will consider
the progress in destroying stockpiles of chemical weapons by the countries
that have them, the implementation of programs meant to secure the universal
application of the Chemical Weapons Convention and matters regarding the
preparation of the second special session of the Conference. The session
will adopt resulting documents.
The
Convention on Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and
Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction was adopted at the
Disarmament Conference in Geneva in 1992. The document came into force in
1997. 182 countries joined the Convention as of October 31, 2007. Belarus
ratified the CWC on February 9, 1995 as a country, which does not store
chemical weapons and does not produce the most dangerous chemicals that can
be used for manufacturing chemical weapons. Belarus has done everything
necessary to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention: procedures for
controlling the transportation of CWC-controlled chemicals are in place as
well as criminal and administrative prosecution for violating CWC
requirements and a mechanism for cooperation of state agencies for preparing
national announcements and receiving OPCW inspections.
Belarus was
elected to the OPCW Executive Council in 1997, 2002 and 2006. OPCW
representatives have audited all Belarusian companies that produce CWC-controlled
chemicals. The companies are fully compliant with the CWC. Every year
Belarus submits national declarations concerning the production, export and
import of CWC-controlled chemicals to the OPCW.
Belarus to Partake in Annual Conferences on Inhumane Weapons Convention
in Geneva
Belarus
will take part in the annual conferences of the Convention on Prohibitions
or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be
Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects
(Inhumane Weapons Convention). The events will take place in Geneva on
November 5-13. A delegation of Belarus will be headed by Sergei Aleinik,
Belarus' permanent representative at the UN Office and other international
organisations having their headquarters in Geneva.
The
conferences will focus on the issues relating to the general status of the
convention, the explosive remnants of the war, landmines and also a set of
possible measures to enhance the efficiency of the Inhumane Weapons
Convention. Geneva will play host to the first conference of the
states-parties to the Protocol on Unexploded Ordinance as the Aftermath of
the War, 9th annual conference of the states-parties to the protocol that
restricts the use of mines and booby traps, and an annual meeting of the IWC
member states.
The
Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain
Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to
Have Indiscriminate Effects (or the Inhumane Weapons Convention (IWC) was
adopted in Geneva in 1980, opened for signature on April 10, 1981 and
entered into force on December 21, 1983. The purpose of the Convention is to
ban or restrict the use of specific types of weapons that are considered to
cause unnecessary or unjustifiable suffering to combatants or to affect
civilians indiscriminately. The IWC is an "umbrella treaty" to which
specific agreements can be added as protocols. The second review conference
of the IWC member states amended Article 1 of the Convention (entered into
force in 2004) so that the Convention also applies to situations of
non-international armed conflict.
Belarus
joined the IWC and its protocols in 1983.
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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
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Foreign Investments in Belarus to Exceed $3 billion in
January-September
Foreign
investments in Belarus are expected to exceed $3 billion in the nine month
of 2007, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov told deputies of
the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus on October
26.
The number
of investment offers has been constantly growing. In H 1 2007 the foreign
investments doubled as compared to the same time last year to reach $2.3
billion. The country credit rating that Belarus received in August this year
promotes the investment inflow.
The
Government attaches special importance to investments in the innovation
sphere. The number of projects on setting up new manufactures under the
innovation development program grew from 100 to 168.
Capital Investments Grow Fast in Belarus
In Belarus,
the growth rate of capital investments exceeds that of the GDP twofold,
First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko told a session of
the National Council for Social and Labor Affairs in Minsk on November 1.
The session tabled the fulfillment of the 2006-2008 general agreement
between the Belarusian government, associations of employers and trade
unions in January-September 2007.
Vladimir
Semashko remarked, over the period the growth rate of capital investments
totaled 116.8 percent as against the same period of last year, while the GDP
growth amounted to 108.4 percent. “It is a pleasant fact, which testifies to
quality changes in the national economy,” he said. “Production facilities
are being actively modernized in Belarus, new cutting-edge technologies are
assimilated. It is a reserve for the future, for decades to come”.
Vladimir
Semashko said this year is extremely difficult due to the sharp increase in
the natural gas price and the introduction of the customs duty on imported
oil. The two factors have resulted in an additional burden as large as $1.2
billion and $1.8 billion respectively. However, the country’s economy has
handled the tasks it had had to, stressed Vladimir Semashko. The present GDP
growth is a large figure. For example, the average European annual increase
in the GDP stands at 1.8-2 percent.
Yet
Vladimir Semashko noted, this year’s foreign trade deficit may reach $2
billion, partly due to the growing energy prices. “The industry
profitability does not reach the targeted figure so far,” he said. “However,
there is hope the target will be hit at the end of the year”. The official
stated, the planned growth of the nominal and real salaries and pensions is
secured.
In 2007 Inflation Not to Exceed 8 Percent in Belarus
In 2007
inflation will not exceed 8 percent in Belarus, though many external factors
complicate the price-formation work, Chairman of the Board of the National
Bank Piotr Prokopovich told reporters on November 1.
“At present
there are no prerequisites in Belarus for pushing up inflation. The national
economy is stable,” he noted. “Our economic sector is open. And external
shocks including the increase in prices for energy resources and foodstuffs
certainly exert influence upon the prices in Belarus. However, this
influence will not hinder Belarus to meet inflation targets. Inflation
should not exceed 8% in the current year,” Piotr Prokopovich underlined.
In
January-September 2007 inflation stood at 5.4 percent in Belarus or 0.6
percent per month.
Samsung Electronics Interested in Setting Up Joint Venture
in Belarus
The Samsung
Electronics Company is interested in setting up a joint venture in Belarus,
the head of Samsung Electronics representation in Ukraine and Belarus told
reporters during the opening of a representative office of Samsung
Electronics in Minsk on October 25. According to him, at present Samsung
Electronics is looking for a partner in Belarus.
According
to the head of the representative office, the opening of Samsung Electronics
office in Minsk will allow the company to promote its up-to-date products.
The activity of the Belarusian representation will be aimed at monitoring
the market, certificating products and marketing operation. The Samsung
Electronics Company also intends to expand the range of the goods which are
supplied to Belarus.
In turn,
Deputy Director of the Belarusian High-Tech Park Alexander Martinkevich
noted that Samsung and HTP are close partners. Many residents of the
High-Tech Park develop software for Samsung. Recently, Samsung Electronics
has expressed readiness to take part in an open international contest to
construct facilities in the Belarusian High-Tech Park. “We hope that the
opening of Samsung Electronics representative office in Belarus will promote
the further development of our relations,” Alexander Martinkevich noted.
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SOCIETY,
SCIENCE AND CULTURE
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Launches Its Newly
Designed Web-Site
On October
31, 2007, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus has launched its newly
designed web site, which is available at
www.mfa.gov.by.
The web
contains plenty of useful information about Belarus in general and its
foreign policy, in particular, and has Russian and English versions.
The
specific sections are dedicated to foreign economic activities of Belarus,
bilateral and multilateral cooperation of Belarus with foreign states and
international organizations, consular issues, etc. The news list, comments
and statements by the Ministry on important issues of Belarus foreign policy
and international relations are available at the web as well.
The special
attention by developers of the web site was paid to such issues as tourism,
science and education in Belarus. As its previous version, the new web also
has a great number of useful links.
Please,
visit the web site for more details.
Congress of Belarusian Scientists Considers Measures for
Further Economic Development
The first
Congress of Belarusian Scientists is being held in Minsk on November 1-2 in
order to summarize the results of the recent scientific activity in Belarus.
The
Congress will evaluate the competitiveness of Belarusian products and their
position on international markets. Belarusian scientists have valuable
experience of creating up-to-date technologies and equipment in mechanical
engineering, nano-technologies, microelectronics, space and
bio-technologies. The country has achieved considerable success in enhancing
energy and food security.
However,
some problems still remain and the major part of them will be considered
during the Congress. Certain measures to boost the production of
import-substituting products, to enter new sales markets, to strengthen
positions in the international arena are supposed to be discussed at the
forum. Energy security and independence of Belarus will be high on the
agenda. Scientists are set to discuss new technologies in oil processing
which will allow the country to reduce the import of a number of energy
elements including polypropylene. They are to consider the peculiarities of
the cooperation between education, science and production, determine the
ways to strengthen this cooperation.
Film Festival LISTAPAD 2007 Attracts Record Number of
Participants
34
countries have already confirmed their participation in the 14th Minsk
International Film Festival LISTAPAD 2007, which will be held on November
17-24. Nevertheless, the talks regarding the participation are underway.
According to organizers, the number of participants may reach 40 countries.
Last year, 26 countries took part in the festival.
Stanislav
Govurukhin’s film “Actress” was chosen to open the festival on November 17.
During the opening ceremony, the special prizes of the President of Belarus
“For Humanism and Spirituality in Cinema” and “For Preservation and
Development of Traditions of Spirituality in Cinema Art” will be presented.
Apart from
the contest, LISTAPAD 2007 will present a big art-program. Events of the
film forum will be held in the oblast centers and a number of regions of
Belarus for the first time. Gala concert “For Gifted Belarus!” will become
the main event of the festival.
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OF
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