Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at the Launching Event of “Partnering for a Brighter Shared Future: Progress Report on the Belt and Road Initiative in Support of the United Nations 2030 Agenda”

Your Excellency Ambassador Zhang Jun,

Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua, 

Assistant Secretary-General Navid Hanif,

There is no doubt that the example of the Belt and Road Initiative has vividly demonstrated that economic cooperation, investment and trade bring prosperity along with strengthening peace and security, which is indivisible, both globally and regionally. 

We agree that in the wake of a series of global pandemics and economic crisis the world economy is entering, the BRI has contributed to enhancing socio-economic resilience promoting social and economic rights as well.

Russia has supported the Initiative of our Chinese friends and also put forward the idea of aligning it with the Eurasian Economic Union. Particular arrangements were made at the level of Presidents of our two countries and a Working Group was established. In the future, this process could serve as the basis for a new integration framework - the Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP) uniting the Member States of the EAEU, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and ASEAN. We proceed from the fact that the GEP will be open for all interested countries and will be built on the principles of transparency and mutual respect. Building such an integration framework is a large-scale, complex task, which is very relevant in modern conditions and opens up new prospects for the development of trade and economic cooperation in the Eurasian macroregion.  

It appears even more relevant and urgent today as the trade cooperation chains have become a hostage of political tensions. As a result of the redistribution of trade and investment flows, it becomes evident that the countries of the APEC region and the Commonwealth of Independent States will fill the vacant trade niches throughout the Eurasian markets which were abandoned by Western players. 

Against the backdrop of growing volatility regional cooperation represents the important pillar of future economic system, a multipolar, balanced and sustained one. To these end, eventual Eurasian network cooperation including the BRI would encompass shift to national currencies in mutual transactions and loans, establishing cross-regional logistics and value chains, working out major projects including in the Far East, developing industrial cooperation and technological modernization. Several tracks of the alignment process have just been discussed at the Eastern Economic Forum that took place in Vladivostok last week and countries participating in the BRI showed remarkable interest which opens up new prospects of finding the ways how to implement the Agenda-2030. 

Thank you.