Events

MINSK, 22 September (BelTA) – Belarus offers to work out a large-scale strategy of cooperation with middle-income countries in the United Nations, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said in an interview with the United Nations Radio on 21 September, BelTA has learned.

“We suggest drafting a full-fledged large-scale strategy of cooperation with middle-income countries. This idea is gaining support in different UN bodies. We believe that we should exploit our potential together in order to fulfill the tasks adopted at the UN summit,” Vladimir Makei remarked.

The minister emphasized that the promotion of interests of middle-income countries is among Belarus’ top priorities in the United Nations. “This category of countries has been kind of overlooked in the UN. This group comprises more than a hundred states. They account for a third of the global GDP and a fourth of the world’s exports and imports. Despite their great contribution to the global development, they have their own problems,” Vladimir Makei noted. For instance, 73% of the world’s poor live in these countries. This is why Belarus considers it necessary to revise the criteria for inclusion in this category and unite their effort to achieve the SDGs.

“We have set up a relevant group in the UN - the Like-Minded Group of Countries Supporters of Middle-Income Countries. We have adopted a declaration on the development of middle-income countries and drafted a roadmap to promote the interests of these countries to be distributed as official UN documents at the current session,” the Belarusian diplomat added.