The total value of contracts signed at the Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia has exceeded Br1.7 billion, Roman Brodov, Chairman of the Standing Commission on Economy, Budget and Finance of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, said during the plenary session of the Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia,
BelTA has learned.
Roman Brodov spoke about the work of 10 panel sessions and two events that took place in various formats and locations during the Forum of Regions. “If the forum is a bridge between our countries, then the first result I would like to state is that this bridge withstood the load of 1,600 people. According to current data, nearly 1,600 people took part in the forum’s events. The bridge did not just withstand it, but showed that we have a serious margin of safety. Everything we planned was carried out, all events took place, and the scheduled documents were signed. For the organizers, this sounds almost like a professional dream,” he noted.
According to him, nearly 160 reports were delivered during the section meetings, followed by at least 150 detailed comments. “If we arrange them into a single time series, we get almost 24 hours of high-quality ideas, proposals, and initiatives. As our president often says, initiative is life. We managed to set a very high bar for the forum’s substantive content. By modest estimates, the discussions covered at least half of our bilateral Union State agenda. According to the participants themselves, free time turned out to be the scarcest resource. In some sections, the actual number of those wishing to speak was 2.5 times higher than the number stipulated by the initial regulations,” the MP pointed out.
Nevertheless, the economy cares for results rather than loud rhetoric, Roman Brodov stressed. “The key outcome of the forum was a significant expansion of the legal and contractual framework for interregional and commercial cooperation. The total value of the contracts signed has exceeded Br1.7 billion. This is almost double the results of the previous forum. The total number of contracts has reached 220. In the course of all meetings, nearly 90 agreements, memorandums, and documents were signed. Year after year, the forum proves that in integration, traditional mathematical rules give way to the laws of synergy. For us, one plus one is not always two. It can be three, four, or even five. In our case, we see that in reality, the economic union of two is much more than the sum of its two parts,” Roman Brodov emphasized.
During the panel sessions, the joint potential was examined from five perspectives, he added. “The first is the economy and the strengthening of technological sovereignty through the strategic areas in industry, science and technology. Special emphasis was placed on the development of a new tool: the Union State trademark. Second is ensuring food security and the balanced development of the agricultural industry. Interregional cooperation was discussed at the sessions with the largest number of participants. And such interest is fully justified: the economy always begins on the ground. The financial control bodies of Belarus and Russia discussed conducting assessments of the utilization of regional potential. The fourth block of issues concerned the interaction between Belarus and Russia on humanitarian aspects. The panel participants supported the development of mechanisms for remote interaction between the medical centers of Belarus and Russia. Joint solutions were found in tourism. The fifth block is the youth agenda. The forum is becoming younger, and when you have to look for a free seat at venues where promising projects are being discussed, the future of the Union State appears more secure,” the MP said.
It is a tradition of the forum to include in its program an event that is being held for the first time. This time, it was the inaugural meeting of the Union State Committee for Standardization and Quality.
“A highlight of the forum was the award ceremony for the laureates of the Best Goods of Belarus on the Russian Market contest. Also, an expert session ‘The Union State: Territory of Development’ brought together more than 70 experts from the two countries. The traditional decoration of the forum is the exhibition-fair. The updated format with an emphasis on regions made it possible to unite 170 producers from Belarus and Russia,” Roman Brodov emphasized.
The MP also pointed to the atmosphere of the event. “It cannot be described or included in a report. But it is exactly what often determines the result,” he said.
According to him, the forum demonstrated that trust is, without a doubt, the core asset of Belarusian-Russian cooperation. “No modern technologies can replace a personal conversation. Every meeting, every speech, every contact is like a new connecting thread, and together they weave into a strong rope of cooperation between our regions,” Roman Brodov said.
