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Belarus' PM: CIS needs to step up mutual trade, import substitution efforts

MINSK, 8 June (BelTA) - The CIS countries need to increase mutual trade and continue work on import substitution, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said at a meeting of the CIS Heads of Government Council in Sochi on 8 June, BelTA has learned.

“Despite the constantly increasing unprecedented challenges, we manage to maintain positive trends in all areas of multilateral cooperation in the CIS in 2023. Belarus continues to show the highest rates of intra-CIS trade among the member states. CIS countries accounted for 65% of Belarus’ total foreign trade in 2022. The share of mutual trade in the total volume of the CIS foreign trade is only about 15%. Belarus increased its trade in services with the CIS countries by 20%, both in exports and imports. As a result, CIS countries account for 48% of Belarus’ foreign trade in services. These figures show how tightly the Belarusian economy is built into the economic exchange within the CIS,” Roman Golovchenko said.

In his words, this year it is necessary to continue work on strengthening CIS self-sufficiency, increasing the share of mutual trade of member states, ensuring technological sovereignty and substitution of critical imports. “At this very stage, we vitally need a breakthrough in cooperation in all the areas, especially in industrial cooperation, elimination of trade barriers, ensuring food security, formation and strengthening of new transport corridors and logistics chains,” the prime minister said.

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