Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 15 September (BelTA) – Spheres of cooperation between Belarus and the United Nations Development Organization are expanding. The statement was made by Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich as he met with UN/UNDP Resident Representative in Belarus Sanaka Samarasinha on 15 September, BelTA has learned.

The head of government praised Sanaka Samarasinha’s work in Belarus. “We see good dynamics not only in traditional branches and spheres of interaction. New avenues open up, including in matters of public private partnership,” said Mikhail Myasnikovich.

At present a framework program to provide aid to Belarus for development purposes in 2011-2015 is in progress. It is the first joint strategy of the UN agencies that work in Belarus that has been prepared in association with the government and partners. The Prime Minister spoke in positive terms about the program. “The budget is $78 million. It is important for the financing volume not to go down but go up since the spheres of cooperation are expanding,” he added.

“The structure, the text of the present framework program are much better than those of similar documents that I have seen,” admitted Sanaka Samarasinha. “A lot of efforts have to be exercised to fulfill the program. It is possible that some participants of the program may have had somewhat different expectations. We will take them into account during the preparation of the next document for 2016-2020”. The second program is in development.

Mikhail Myasnikovich noted that the preparation of the draft national strategy for Belarus’ sustainable development till 2030 is in its final phase. The head of government said he was interested in getting UN/UNDP economics experts involved in the long-term program.