Statement by Mr. Antonius Broek,
UN Resident Coordinator/ UNDP Resident Representative,
at the launch of the report
“BELARUS: THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS OF TRADE POLICY”
29 April 2011, Minsk
Dear Mr Deputy Minister,
Distinguished participants,
Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to welcome you at the launch of the National report
titled “BELARUS: THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS OF
TRADE POLICY”. It was prepared by a team of Belarusian economists
Irina Tochitskaya and Dmitry Kruk – in cooperation with advisors of the
UNDP Regional Center for Europe and CIS in Bratislava.
Why do we address this topic?
First, we acknowledge the pivotal role of trade as an engine for propoor economic growth and human development. A better integration
into international trade plays an important role in global efforts to reduce
poverty; increasing exports provide new opportunities for enterprises to
expand their production and to create more and better jobs. However,
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the link between poverty reduction and trade is by no means automatic.
Therefore, it is necessary to perceive trade through a human
development lens in order to ensure that it fully benefits the poor and
vulnerable.
Second, UNDP is a member of the UN Interagency Cluster on Trade
and Productive Capacity which provides multidimensional assistance in
mainstreaming trade in the national development and poverty reduction
strategies. Together with other UN agencies and European Union, UNDP
supports an International Aid for Trade Initiative (conceived at the WTO
Ministerial Conference in 2005) that seeks to strengthen the capacity of
developing countries to participate in and benefit from international
trade.
In 2008 the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS and the
Government of Finland initiated a long-term partnership to assist the
countries of the Western CIS, South Caucasus and Central Asia in
developing trade.
A year later, among other 11 countries Belarus became a part of the
UNDP Regional project on Promoting Trade Development and Poverty
Reduction in Partnership with Finland´s Initiative.
During the first project phase, a trade needs assessment was
conducted as a pre-requisite for an effective implementation of the AfT
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agenda. The first step was to articulate the AfT national priorities with a
special reference to the challenges and perspectives; identify needs and
capacity gaps; develop technical assistance requirements and concrete
national Aid for trade project interventions.
To assist in conducting the analysis, the UNDP Regional Center in
Bratislava launched a publication “Trade and Human Development: How
to Conduct Trade Needs Assessments in Transition Economies”
proposing a common methodology and analytical framework. This guide
is available today and please contact the UNDP office if you need to have
more copies for your daily work.
I would also like to mention that the National AfT Needs
Assessment Report was developed in a participatory manner. The
comments and insights from officials and experts from a number of
ministries, trade promotion agencies and institutions – were extremely
valuable.
The report that we present today examines the macroeconomic
context and current trends in foreign trade, highlights the linkages
between trade and human development. It presents a sectoral analysis of
foreign trade effects on two sectors – light and food industries. Besides, it
gives practical recommendations on promotion of foreign trade in
individual sectors for better human development performance and ideas
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for international technical assistance projects. The first proposal is about
expanding trade and export potential of light industry in Belarus. The
second project idea is related to improving expertise in the food industry
to make it compliant with the EU food safety regulations. The third
proposal is to facilitate goods shipments crossing the Belarusian borders.
I am pleased to inform you that the first proposal elaborated in
cooperation with the Concern BelLegProm Group will be supported by
Finland during the second phase of the UNDP Aid for Trade regional
project starting in 2012.
In conclusion, I would like to extend my special thanks to the
Government of Finland, whose generous contribution made this
publication and follow-up activities possible.
I also appreciate our partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
in promoting Aid for Trade Initiative in Belarus. Also, allow me to express
my sincere thanks to our researchers - authors of the report - for sharing
their valuable experience with us.
I hope the conclusions, recommendations and cooperation
proposals will get due attention from the government, and, especially,
from donors, private sector and international organizations working in
this area.
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Thank you for your attention.
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