International organizations can be divided into two groups:
universal: UN, WTO, OECD; regional, which are created within the framework of integration associations: CES, APEC, etc.
A significant role in the interstate regulation of IER is played by the United Nations (UN), which includes 185 countries. Among the UN organizations directly related to economic activities, mention should be made of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the UNITED Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), etc.
The United Nations is the largest , most universal and most authoritative international organization designed to deal with the main political problems that concern humanity. The political activity of the UN is inextricably linked with economic and social tasks directly related to world politics.
The most prominent UN specialized agencies are the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, which includes the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International Development Association (MAP), and the International Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). There are also specialized bodies under the UN, for example, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN Commission on International Property Law (UNCITRAL), etc.
The IMF includes 182 countries. The capital of the Fund is formed at the expense of contributions from member countries. Each state has its own quota in it, which is established depending on the country’s share in the world economy and trade. The largest quotas are available: the United States – 18.25%, Germany and Japan – 5.67 each, Great Britain and France – 5.10 each, Russia – 2.97. A country’s quota determines the number of votes it votes in decision-making on the IMF Board of Governors, as well as its ability to use the Fund’s resources.
Initially, the IMF was intended to provide financial support to developed countries, regulate their balance of payments and maintain the stability of their exchange rates.
In 1947-1976, 60.6% of IMF loans were received by industrialized countries of the West. Since the 70s, the emphasis in the IMF’s activities has shifted from balance of payments problems to stabilization programs (economic recovery programs). The main borrowers of the Fund were developing countries (92% of all IMF loans). The largest amounts of IMF loans were received (in descending order) by Mexico, Russia, the Republic of Korea, Argentina, India, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Pakistan.
The World Bank is designed to lend to the economies of developing countries. But unlike conventional commercial banks, it provides technical assistance, advises on how to use loans more profitably, and in every way promotes investment in the economies of these countries. However, the functions of the World Bank institutions are somewhat different.
The objectives of IBRD are: to provide guarantees for private foreign investment in order to stimulate it; direct participation in the implementation of foreign investments, promotion of international trade.
To join the IBRD, a country must first become a member of the IMF. The bank’s funds consist of the authorized capital formed by subscription of the member countries, the borrowed funds that it draws from the world loan capital market through the issuance of bonds, and income from its own activities. The number of votes in the IBRD bodies is determined by the share in its authorized capital. The Largest number of votes on the IBRD Board of Governors has the United States – more than 17%, and all the countries of the “Group of Seven” – about 45%.
The IBRD, unlike the IMF, is aimed at stimulating the international flow of medium- and long-term investments, promoting the reconstruction and development of the economy. About 75% of all IBRD loans are credited to specific projects – from schools to power plants and industrial enterprises – in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Recently, the World Bank has allocated part of the loans for the purpose of structural adaptation of the economy (financing changes in the economy of a particular country to make it market-oriented), and the bank gives loans only to those states that implement stabilization programs approved by the IMF.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) was founded in 1956 and its main goal is to mobilize national and foreign capital for the development of private entrepreneurship in developing countries.
The International Development Association (MAP) was established in 1960 to assist the least developed countries. It provides them with interest-free and super-long-term loans from the funds contributed by rich countries.
The International Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), founded in 1968, provides investors with guarantees against non-commercial risks (currency restrictions, nationalization and expropriation, armed conflicts and revolutions, etc.).
The Republic of Belarus is a member of the UN, as well as many specialized agencies of this organization (UNESCO, WHO, WMO, WIPO, ILO, UNIDO, UPU, ITU, ICAO, IMF).
The Republic supports the consistent policy of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security, in the field of strengthening and developing existing international regimes to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, reduce and eliminate their existing arsenals.
Since July 1992, the Republic of Belarus has become a member of the International Monetary Fund. The republic’s quota in the IMF is 280.4 million SDRs (about 373 million US dollars), or 0.19% of the total quota, which was subsequently increased to
SDR 386.4 million (about US$542.1 million).
Since 1993, Belarus has used the Fund’s resources three times to support the Government’s economic reform programme. Total credits and loans made at the end of June 1998 amounted to SDR 184.4 million. IMF provided technical assistance to Belarus in a number of areas, including public spending, taxation and customs, bank supervision, monetary policy and organization of the National Bank, and financial statistics (balance of payments, monetary, banking, and real sectors).
The loans provided were mainly directed to the financial and credit sphere. In 1993, the Belarusian government signed a loan agreement with the IMF in the amount of $ 200 million. THROUGH the Systemic Transformation Fund to improve the balance of payments. The first tranche of the loan was received in August 1993 in the amount of SDR 70.1 million, which at that time was equivalent to $98 million. UNITED STATES. It was intended to improve the balance of payments of the republic. Its maturity was 10 years; moratorium on repayment of principal debt – 4.5 years, interest rate – 5.67% (floating). The loan funds were used to purchase fuel oil, motor gasoline and diesel fuel, medical equipment, and were also partially used to ensure timely settlements with Russia for the supplied liquefied gas and maintain the exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble.
In 2001, a six-month Monitoring Program by the Fund (SPF) was implemented in the republic, which serves as the basis for the transition to the “stand-by” mechanism. At present, the resumption of the “stand-by” program can be considered as the main topic of negotiations with the IMF. All monetary targets and almost all structural benchmarks have been met.
The Republic of Belarus also works closely with the World Bank Group (IBRD, IFC, MIGA, IDA) and other international organizations.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) plays a special role in regulating international trade in goods and services, which replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) on January 1, 1995. Currently, 146 states are members of the WTO. The main task of the WTO is to liberalize world trade on the basis of a consistent reduction in the level of customs duties and the elimination of various non-tariff barriers. Currently, WTO rules regulate over 90% of world trade (by value).
The activities of the organization are based on a number of simple fundamental provisions:
Trade without discrimination: WTO members undertake to accord to each other the most-favoured-nation principle in trade (i.e. conditions no worse than those accorded by them by any other country), as well as to accord to goods of foreign origin the same treatment as national goods in the field of domestic taxes and fees, as well as in respect of national laws, regulations and regulations governing domestic trade; protection of domestic production through customs tariffs: publicly and openly established customs tariffs (duties) are the main, and in the future – the only tool for regulating exports and imports of the participating countries; they refuse to apply quantitative measures of foreign trade regulation (quotas, import and export licenses, etc.); A stable and predictable basis for trade: long-term fixation of duties in customs tariffs. Duties are set in the course of multilateral negotiations; promotion of fair competition: countering unfair methods of competition, such as the marketing of goods at artificially low prices (dumping) or the use of state subsidies to understate export prices; transparency and openness in trade regulation; resolution of disputes and conflicts through consultation and negotiation.
One of the most important obligations undertaken by a country acceding to the WTO is to bring the national principles and rules governing its foreign trade into maximum compliance with the norms of this organization.
The main mechanism of the WTO is rounds of multilateral negotiations. As a result of rounds of multilateral negotiations, the weighted average rate of customs tariffs in the United States, Western Europe and Japan was reduced on average from 25-30% in the early 50s to about 4% in 1998.
In 1997, within the framework of the WTO, agreements were reached on the liberalization of the telecommunications and information technology market and on the liberalization of the financial services market. The WTO leadership calls for the creation of a single world free trade area by 2020.
Belarus’ accession to the WTO is considered as the most important stage of integration into the world economy, which will provide the country with the necessary tools to protect and promote national interests within the framework of the international trade system. At the same time, accession to the WTO challenges the Republic of Belarus to ensure that its economic legislation complies with WTO rules, as well as to make balanced concessions to trading partners in order to ensure more open access of foreign goods and services to the domestic market.
An important role in the regulation of IER is also played by such an institution as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), founded in 1960. Currently, 29 countries are members of the OECD: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States. The share of OECD countries, which are home to 16% of the world’s population, account for 2/3 of world production.
The main purpose of the OECD is to analyze the state of the economies of the member states and develop recommendations to the participating countries on the implementation of economic regulation at the macro and sectoral levels. These recommendations are generally taken into account by member countries in the formulation and implementation of national economic policies. In this regard, the Organization is actually a body for coordinating the economic policy of the leading Western countries.
In general, all international organizations aim to regulate certain aspects of the functioning of the world community in order to create all conditions for its harmonious development in the future. In many respects, a kind of legal space is created in them, within the framework of which the interaction of all components of the world economy takes place.