Opinions & Interviews

Oleg Shloma noted that Belarus is interested in developing fruitful political relations with the European Union, which is one of the most important partners in the field of trade, economy and other areas. “We are looking for common ground in all areas of cooperation and try to fill it with the most productive content. Technical cooperation is one of such positive fields that has served as an example of constructive cooperation between Belarus and the EU for many years,” he said.

The EU is a major donor of Belarus in the field of technical cooperation and technical assistance. "We are committed to continue to work within the framework of this cooperation because it really makes a significant contribution to the development of the country," said Oleg Shloma.

According to him, thanks to the EU technical assistance Belarus has done a lot in the area of border security, infrastructure development, transport, food, the environment, education, culture, and many other files. "The volume of technical assistance has gradually increased. In 2007-2013 Belarus was allocated more than €70 million for programs and projects in the field of the environment, energy efficiency, standardization, medicine and regional development. The growth trend continues," said Oleg Shloma.

Belarus will take part in the new program designed to run in 2014-2017. It provides for the implementation of projects across three key priorities: social integration, environment and regional economic development. Funding per year will approximate €20 million. Belarus also continues to participate in the cross-border cooperation programs.

The organizer of the conference is the Coordinating Unit for the EU TACIS Program in Belarus together with the EU international technical assistance project “The Capacity Development Facility to support the implementation of sector programs under the ENPI Annual Action Programs for Belarus (CDFB)”. "This is not the first such event this year. It is important that the conference continued the discussion on the issues raised at previous meetings,” said Executive Director of the Coordinating Unit for the EU TACIS Program in Belarus Dina Goncharova.

The main aim of the event is to have an interactive discussion of the preparation and implementation of projects in Belarus through dialogue of all interested parties: national government bodies, local authorities, voluntary associations, representatives of the programs carried out in the country and independent experts.

The plenary session speakers included representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Energy Ministry, the Emergencies Minsitry and the State Committee for Standardization, the Brest, Vitebsk and Grodno regional authorities, and also representatives of public associations that are most active in EU programs. The conference was attended by representatives of the technical secretariats of the EU cross-border cooperation programs for Belarus, who expressed their views on the ways of improving the effectiveness of projects with participation of Belarusian organizations. Mr Ian Grant, a senior CDFB project expert, made a report at the conference.

The debate was continued in five thematic working groups: planning, programming and project identification; implementation of projects on the basis of optimal control; enhancing the capacity of external assistance; monitoring and reporting, and also the access to the project results and visual presentations of the results.

According to the organizers of the conference, the participants' suggestions and proposals may be used to update the national legislation in the field of international technical assistance, in particular the annual reporting system.