Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus E.Shestakov participates in the conference on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership
16.04.2019 г.On April 16, 2019 during his working visit to the Czech Republic, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Evgeny Shestakov took part in the conference “10 Years of the Eastern Partnership (EaP): Economic Convergence and Business Opportunities”.
The opening keynote speech was delivered by Prime Minister of the Czech Republic A.Babiš. The conference was also attended by Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic M.Novakova, State Secretary for European Affairs of the Czech Republic M.Hrdinková, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic I.Pilný, President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce V.Dlouhý, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments of Armenia M.Adamyan, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia G.Arveladze, Chairman of the Goverment of Adjara T.Rijvadze, Deputy Minister of Economy and Infrastructure of Moldova I.Dragalin, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine for European Integration V.Dovgan, heads of competent services of the European Commission and the European External Action Service.
In his statement at the Panel “Next Ten Years of the Eastern Partnership: Opportunities and Obstacles”, E.Shestakov stressed the importance of the EaP as an instrument for pragmatic cooperation between the Eastern Partners and the European Union facilitating the achievement of objectives and responding to common challenges in the field of transport and connectivity, trade, economic reforms, people-to-people contacts, etc.
E.Shestakov pointed out that despite some positive results many of the fundamental targets of the EaP have not been achieved yet. In view of the lessons of the past, cooperation aimed at preventing the emergence of new dividing lines, promotion of peace, security and prosperity of the region need to be the main goals of the EaP.
Belarus’ Deputy Foreign Minister spoke of the importance of achieving tangible results in the framework of the EaP. He stressed the need to implement large-scale infrastructure projects, including with participation of China, organize joint EU-EaP economic diplomacy missions to other regions of the world, encourage entrepreneurship and attract private capital to support EU-funded projects.
The conference is organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.
