Foreign trade of the Republic of Belarus

Currently, the Republic of Belarus among the CIS countries occupies a leading place in terms of foreign trade. The volume of foreign trade turnover of the republic is constantly increasing (Table 1). The export and import quotas range from 45-55%.

The main export items are tractors, trucks, refrigerators, watches, televisions, bicycles, tires, chemical fibers, potash and nitrogen fertilizers, food products (Table 2).

The import structure is represented by the following items:

mineral products – 27% of all imports; machinery, equipment and vehicles, 24 per cent; chemical industry products, rubber – 13.7%; ferrous and non-ferrous metals, products from them – 11.9%; food products and agricultural raw materials – 11.8%; light industry products and raw materials for its production – 4.5%; wood and pulp and paper products – 3.2%; etc. – 3.9%.

Table 1 Resource requirements by component

Dynamics of foreign trade volume

of the Republic of Belarus for 1995-2003, in millions of dollars.

The inclusion of the republic in the system of the international division of labor is facilitated by a favorable geopolitical position. On its territory there are communications connecting Russia with European countries, Ukraine with the Baltic states, Asian countries with Europe.

The Republic of Belarus has export-import relations with more than 150 countries and exports more than 1000 items of products. The main foreign trade partners of the republic are Russia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Poland, Latvia, Germany, Lithuania, the USA and other countries (Table 3).

Table 2 Resource requirements by component

Export of the main types of goods of the Republic of Belarus

in 2003

Table 3 Resource requirements by component

The main trading partners of the Republic of Belarus

in 2003

Export development is one of the priorities of Belarus’ foreign economic activity. The conquest of new markets requires great efforts from domestic producers, modern approaches, creating conditions for the delivery of goods to literally every consumer. The achievements of Belarusian enterprises in increasing their export potential are obvious both in the CIS markets and in the markets of foreign countries, which is confirmed by the growth in the value of Belarusian exports.

Security questions for topic No. 2

Define international trade. What are the indicators that characterize international and foreign trade? What is the difference between international and foreign trade? Define the concept of “world price”. What are the features of the world price and what are the features of its establishment in the world markets of raw materials and engineering products. Describe the place in the world trade turnover of developed, developing and transforming countries. What is the difference between estimated and published prices? What are the main types of published prices? What factors influence the growth of international trade in goods? Describe the structure of the global commodity market. Describe the dynamics, structure, geographical priorities in the foreign trade activities of the Republic of Belarus.