Plans to sign some 70 agreements at Belarus-Russia Forum of Regions

“The forum has been gathering pace and becoming a platform where heads of regions and representatives of business communities can come together, conclude contracts, and make plans for the future. The forum will result in signing around $700 million worth of contracts. Last year, this figure stood at $600 million. The largest contract was worth more than $30 million. This year, we expect to sign around 70 agreements,” Anatoly Isachenko said.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the format of the forum will change somewhat, Anatoly Isachenko pointed out. Sessions of thematic sections and some other events scheduled for the first day will be held via videoconferencing. The events of the second day will take place offline.

The 7th Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia will highlight the topic “Historical heritage of the Great Patriotic War as the basis for the development of social, economic, and spiritual ties between Belarus and Russia”. The forum will be divided into five sections dedicated to different themes: parliamentary cooperation, joint economic projects, the feat of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, combating the glorification of Nazism, and stimulating social and economic activity of the rural youth. The agenda also includes a joint meeting of the business councils of Belarus and Russia and the session of experts under the title “Education as the basis for preservation of the common historical memory and further integration and development of the Union State of Belarus and Russia”.

Regional cooperation, implementation of the documents adopted at the previous forums, and the development of the bilateral cooperation in science and technology will be high on the agenda of the 7th session of the interparliamentary commission on regional cooperation of the Council of the Republic of Belarus and the Federation Council of Russia.

The plenary session will be the central event of the forum. Its participants will sum up the results of the forum, discuss the key matters, and adopt the outcome document. Plans are in place to sign cooperation agreements and business contracts at a meeting between chairpersons of the Council of the Republic and the Federation Council and heads of Belarusian regions and Russian federal subjects.