Belarus to push for innovative products in Eurasian Economic Union

Belarus will continue implementing its initiative aimed at promoting cooperation in the Eurasian Economic Union with a view to creating and manufacturing new high-tech, innovative products for the sake of exporting more merchandise and services to third countries. The statement was made by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Russia Igor Petrishenko during the joint session of the Integration Club and the Scientific Advisory Council under the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation’s Federal Assembly in Moscow on 22 June, the press service of the Embassy of Belarus in Russia told BelTA.

The session was focused on scientific and technical cooperation as the foundation of Eurasian economic integration. Igor Petrishenko pointed out the importance of practical implementation of the idea to create Eurasian technology platforms that will enable manufacturing cooperation in the sphere of science, technology, and innovations. These platforms are supposed to accumulate cutting-edge national and international scientific and technological achievements with their consequent assimilation by the production sector.

Chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia Valentina Matviyenko noted that that modernization of national economies of Eurasia countries was interrelated. In her words, the Eurasian Economic Union member states have made a lot of headway into the field and have the relevant research potential. “It is time to enable long-term stable organizational decisions and do some practical work,” said the head of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament.

Valentina Matviyenko stressed: “Along with concentrating efforts on developing conventional fields it is necessary to work to secure the leadership of the Eurasian Economic Union member states in the spheres that will shape the global economy in 10-15 years.” She said it was necessary to enable conditions conducive to key growth points of the sixth technological paradigm such as bioeconomics, IT industry, cognitive, additive and quantum technologies.

According to Valentina Matviyenko, the decision to set up Eurasian technology platforms in the Eurasian Economic Union for the sake of concentrating efforts of science, the private sector, the state, and the civil society for creating innovative products was the right one. “It is now necessary to work on the legal status of the platforms, national and supranational instruments to support and encourage them,” she noted.

The head of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament said she believes that strategic planning of future development of the Eurasian integration process should become one of the pillars of long-term R&D cooperation. “For the sake of forming objective information, including about advanced R&D products, it is extremely important to create special institutes to evaluate technologies the way most of the developed nations have done it,” she said. The institutes could be united into an interstate agency responsible for selecting and implementing joint innovative projects, for working out a coordinated policy on R&D and technical regulations.

Valentina Matviyenko reminded about the Soviet experience of encouraging innovations, the integration of science and the production sector when major projects involved the entire chain — from fundamental research to the organization of batch production. In her words, the step-by-step creation of an integral Eurasian infrastructure system suggested by the Russian Academy of Sciences could play a similar role. The trans-Eurasian belt Development could link Europe and Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean with modern infrastructure in addition to multiplying the volume and speed of passenger traffic, merchandise exchange and information exchange. The implementation of the mega project could provide powerful incentives for the civil engineering industry, IT industry, and the energy industry.

The Russian MP also noted that it was necessary to improve the system used to train and evaluate scientific personnel. In her words, candidates and holders of scientific degrees face a number of difficulties. “It is necessary to work out a common approach at least within the framework of the Eurasian Union. As simple and as transparent rules as possible should be worked out for our scientists in the end,” she said.

Valentina Matviyenko pointed out that the protection of intellectual rights gets more and more important in modern conditions. “It is necessary to create legal mechanisms to enable the protection of trademarks across the Eurasian Economic Union and at the international level,” stressed the MP.