Belarus maintained macroeconomic stability and public trust during the crisis - A. Rubinov

July 20, /BELTA correspondent/. During the global financial and economic crisis, all countries felt its negative impact. Belarus could not avoid negative production dynamics either, but it managed to maintain macroeconomic stability, public trust, and social calm. This was stated on July 19 by Anatoly Rubinov, Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, at the III World Conference of Speakers of Parliament during the general debate on "Parliaments in a World of Crisis: Ensuring Global Democratic Accountability and Responsibility for the Common Good." The forum runs until July 21 in Geneva, the BELTA correspondent was informed by the information department of the Secretariat of the Council of the Republic. Parliamentarians have a special role in solving the problems of overcoming the crisis, the speaker noted. Thanks to their efforts, a number of laws were adopted, primarily aimed at liberalizing business conditions, stimulating citizens' entrepreneurial initiative, and providing state support to the population. As a result of the measures taken, Belarus rose from 82nd to 58th place in the 2009 ranking of the World Bank's annual report "Doing Business." As Anatoly Rubinov emphasized, an even more important task has been set – to enter the top thirty countries in this parameter. An essential condition for maintaining stability in society is ensuring close dialogue between the authorities and citizens, the head of the upper house of the Belarusian parliament stressed in his speech. The most effective form of work for members of the Council of the Republic with the population is to hold personal receptions of citizens and consider their appeals. This allows parliamentarians to be aware of the needs of society, receive information about the state of affairs on the ground, identify pain points, and take necessary measures for the prompt resolution of issues that concern people. Anatoly Rubinov called interaction with the regions the most important component of the Council of the Republic's activities as a body of territorial representation. According to him, the Council for Interaction of Local Self-Government Bodies under the Council of the Republic plays a significant role in this, as well as in coordinating the activities of local councils of deputies of various levels. This activity is accompanied by a broad public campaign, announced and covered in the media. In addition, senators regularly use the press, television, and the Internet to inform about their activities and future plans, and to explain the decisions made by the parliament. This mechanism of interaction "Parliament - civil society - local government - government - media" has made it possible to create an effective procedure for dialogue between the people and the authorities, ensuring clear systemic work of parliamentarians with the population, based on the principles of responsibility and openness. Speaking about the activities of national parliaments, Anatoly Rubinov noted: "We must not forget about the responsibility of parliamentarians to the world community." When making decisions, parliamentarians must always take into account global trends and world experience. In this regard, constructive cooperation between the parliaments of all countries and the special mission of the UN in its development seem very important. Among Belarus's recent initiatives at the UN, the speaker mentioned the formation of a global partnership to combat human trafficking, increasing access to technologies for the use of new and renewable energy sources, etc. In his opinion, the international parliamentary community should consistently advocate for strengthening the role of the UN in addressing global challenges of our time. The Chairman of the upper house of the Parliament of Belarus expressed confidence that the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which currently unites parliamentarians from 155 countries, is a unique platform for multilateral parliamentary dialogue. Its activities should continue to be aimed at developing coordinated approaches that could ensure the peaceful and mutually beneficial development of all countries and avoid the development of crisis phenomena in the world. On the same day, the Chairman of the Council of the Republic held meetings with Meira Kumar, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (People's Chamber) of the Parliament of India, Tsetska Tsacheva, Speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan. Issues of intensifying bilateral trade, economic, and inter-parliamentary cooperation, as well as coordinating positions in international forums, were discussed. The III World Conference of Speakers of Parliament was also attended by Vladimir Andreichenko, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, and Nina Mazay, Chairman of the Standing Commission of the Council of the Republic for International Affairs and National Security (as head of the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia).