Posted:
04.09.2024 16:22:39
Distance is not a hindrance
Given the constructive political relations between Belarus and the far arc countries, there are no closed topics for co-operation
In the face of incessant external pressure exerted by the West, Belarus has relied on interaction with the far arc countries. Visits to the states of the African continent and Latin America regularly take place at the highest and high levels. Last year, the President of Belarus paid official visits to Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea. The government delegation from Belarus has recently visited Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. Yulia Abukhovich, a senior lecturer at the Economic Theory and Marketing Department of the Belarusian State Technological University, has reflected on why the stake on the far arc countries has been put and what Belarus can offer.
The President of Belarus,
Aleksandr Lukashenko,
“Belarus is doing the right thing by expanding co-operation with foreign countries and building long-term partnerships. At the same time, the government must enhance the efficiency
in implementing agreements with foreign partners.”
During the meeting on international affairs, on July 29th, 2024
Aleksandr Lukashenko,
“Belarus is doing the right thing by expanding co-operation with foreign countries and building long-term partnerships. At the same time, the government must enhance the efficiency
in implementing agreements with foreign partners.”
During the meeting on international affairs, on July 29th, 2024
Balance of interests
— What is Belarus’ interest in the far arc countries?
Yulia Abukhovich, Senior lecturer at the Belarusian State
Technological University
The Asian region is an absolute priority for Belarus — both as a deep, promising and rapidly expanding market for Belarusian goods and services, and as a potential source of investment in our economy. Traditionally, the key direction of Belarus’ foreign policy and foreign economic activity in Asia is deepening comprehensive strategic partnership with China. For several years now, China has been maintaining the second place among over a hundred countries importing Belarusian goods, with a share of about 7 percent and good prerequisites for its further growth. There are a lot of points of contact with Asian countries. It is worth noting the sevenfold increase in exports of Belarusian light industry products this year to Uzbekistan — a country that is famous for its sewing products and that used to be perceived solely as a competitor in this area. The success has been ensured due to the use of more progressive forms of economic interaction — industrial co-operation and outsourcing.
Africa is a promising market in terms of diversifying supplies of Belarusian products. The economy of Belarus and African countries is complementary. African countries can import from Belarus products of mechanical engineering, chemical and petrochemical industries, basic foodstuffs, and export to Belarus products of tropical crop production and strategic raw materials.
One of the main areas of our interest on the African continent is mining.
Belarus has been forging relationships with Latin American countries since the mid-2000s, when the so-called ‘leftward shift’ took place in Latin America, characterised by the ascent to power — in a number of countries in the region — of progressive governments that criticised neoliberalism with its free market policies, privatisations and deregulation. It was at that period that Belarus established stable friendly relations with Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador.
Minsk Tractor Works [MTZ trademark] — By the way, there have been announced and launched major economic projects — complexes of socio-economic transformations of developing countries in the region. How can Belarus get involved in this process?
— Today we are rediscovering the countries of Latin America. We put economic co-operation on the basis of good political interaction. As we can already see, this is the right strategy. We have started to convert political friendship into an economic result.
Belarus is interested in receiving Cuban products, in particular rum, sugar, and various tropical products. Imports of cocoa beans and tropical fruits from Nicaragua are interesting, too. Belarus’ investments in Nicaragua are also possible. This country is ready to provide its land so that Belarusian companies could grow agricultural products and then export them. They have a great interest in growing potatoes; there is not much of it there, but the land is suitable.
As for collaboration with Venezuela, today we need to talk about rebooting our relations, first of all, from the economic point of view. There is production and trained specialists. The capacity of the established production facilities in Venezuela is up to 10,000 tractors and up to 5,000 MAZ trucks per year. These volumes enable to cover not only the capacity of the Venezuelan market, but also to cater for the needs of the countries with which Venezuela has traditionally had good trade relations. At least half of the output can be exported and provide for joint ventures. Along with that, Belarusian manufacturers MTZ [Minsk Tractor Works’ trademark] and MAZ [Minsk Automobile Plant’s brand] have their own interest in Venezuela. In particular, this refers to metal — aluminium, hot briquetted iron (HBI), cast iron.
Demand begets supply
— To say it openly, Belarus is a more developed country than most countries in Africa and Latin America. We can offer the far arc countries goods that they will not be able to produce for decades — from ready-made modern equipment to production technologies.
Given the constructive political relations between Belarus and these countries, we will have practically no closed avenues of co-operation. The more developed these countries become, the more interesting Belarus will be to them.
Belarus boasts competence and experience in various aspects of the food problem, as many countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America have already seen for themselves. The solution to this problem is still topical for many peoples of the world.
African countries need to improve food production technologies since mere food imports will not solve their problem; they need to create their own capacities. In parallel, they can invest in projects that will generate cash proceeds from the sale of local goods on the global market.
Over the past two decades, a solid economic groundwork has been formed with Latin American countries, which makes it possible to say that Belarus and Venezuela have set about to restart joint projects in industry and other areas.
The work in Nicaragua is just beginning after a long break, since Soviet times; for now, it has a purely commercial format, with contracts for the supply of ready machinery signed. Agreements have been reached with Cuba on the supply of products it needs, as well as new co-operation agreements in the pharmaceutical field, which is traditionally interesting for our countries. These are big open markets for Belarus.
MAZ trucks [Minsk Automobile Plant’s brand]Fine tuning mechanism
— These countries are certainly of great interest to us. What are the specifics of the work in this area, and what should be taken into account?— Of course, there are a number of features that need to be taken into account.
Despite the difficulties, we find opportunities to sign contracts for the supply of Belarusian products to the countries of the region. The solution was found by concluding supply contracts both with direct payment and through the use of commodity exchange schemes. In the future, it will be possible to switch to clearing.
The potential of the far arc countries is great, yet it will be implemented slowly without the help and momentum on our part. In prospect, the better developed relations with these countries Belarus has, the fewer risks there will be.
By Vladislav Sychevich
