The Belarusian-American Investment Forum recently hosted by New York
The event aimed to promote our economy to the very heart of the business world. On the eve of the forum, Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich announced that Belarus is attending the forum with particular initiatives and is eager to attain a new level of economic interaction between the two countries. Speaking to several diplomats, I noted that our conversation was not of grand projects and major contracts but of the chance to establish more active dialogue and closer contacts for our business circles. As the last world financial crisis showed us, the market falls when the mood is negative and recovers when expectations are more hopeful. Trust is at the core of success.
At the Belarusian-American Investment Forum
Economics must be conducted with pragmatism, since every investor anticipates profit. Of course, this hinges on demand: the preferences of individual people. A global trend gaining in momentum is that of being ‘green’. Belarus has been supporting its own eco-initiatives, including at the recent Climate Summit (attended by 115 nations) in New York; Belarus introduced its vision on the new climate agreement.
Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich spent time chatting with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, in New York, discussing the participation of UN experts in helping Belarus’ development. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial organisations and funds have also been supporting our country’s progress. Ban Ki-moon praised Belarus’ peace-making role in helping settle the Ukrainian crisis — a good sign of relations warming on various fronts: business, industrial, trading, and financial markets.
Each of these New York events deserves serious attention: the Climate Summit; the United Nations’ involvement in our strategy of development; and the Belarusian-American Investment Forum. The latter is inseparably connected with the whole chain, being used to promote our national economy and exports. It’s essential to take part in such gatherings and New York is the ultimate location.
The forum was divided into three segments: the investment climate in Belarus, national investment projects, and the possibility of co-operation in priority sectors; IT and science; and trade and the economy — including Belarus’ membership of the Single Economic Space and the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Belarus often takes part in such events — recently, in London, and in Frankfurt on the Main, as well as in neighbouring capitals, where our main investors are concentrated. However, attendance in New York sends a signal that Belarus is ready to take on the main investment platform worldwide; if we are there, we are everywhere. As the popular American proverb says: ‘The tree of success has many apples but if you manage to win New York, you have the big apple’.
