The Federation Council Speaker chaired a plenary session of the 8th Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus which centred on scientific and technical cooperation in the digital era.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko and Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalya Kochanova held a plenary session of the 8th Forum of Russian and Belarusian Regions which focused on scientific and technical cooperation in the digital era. The event was held via videoconference between Moscow and Minsk.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko took part in the session.
Vladimir Putin underscored that Russia is determined to consistently expand multifaceted relations with the Republic of Belarus and to build the Union State. The Russian President mentioned successful cooperation of the two countries in the field of science and technology, as well as in addressing the strategic task of creating a single scientific, technical and digital space. “Importantly, our regions should be more engaged in the digital agenda.”
Vladimir Putin considers important the fact that Russia-Belarus scientific and technical cooperation is of an applied nature, and that joint achievements are used to modernise industrial facilities and to improve science-intensive industries in both countries. “We focus greatly on digitalising the economy and introducing technological and financial innovations.”
The President of Russia referred to the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power station as the largest Russian-Belarusian high-tech project.
President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko noted that the Forum of Regions is the Union State’s most important economic and communications project. “Belarus is maintaining close contacts with more than 70 Russian regions. Every year, Minsk welcomes at least 10 delegations led by Russian governors. These facts and the practical activities of the regional forums reaffirm the fact that no other major integration platform in the Eurasian space does a better job promoting Belarusian-Russian cooperation.”
According to him, digital technology has long become an inextricable part of reality. “Clearly, the countries that lack proper resources face insurmountable disparities caused by the digital lag,” the President of Belarus said. “Humanity should not become a hostage to this situation.” Alexander Lukashenko then pointed out that time is ripe to develop a joint digital agenda focused on practice.
Valentina Matvienko thanked the President of the Russian Federation and the President of the Republic of Belarus for their unvarying attention to the activities of the forum and deep immersion in the matters concerning regional development. According to her, the current unprecedented level of economic, social and cultural integration within the Union State would have been impossible without their personal input.
The Federation Council Speaker believes that dozens of successful interregional projects in industry, agriculture, science and education that embrace the entire Union State go to show high demand that the forum enjoys. “Over 20 agreements have been signed between the Russian and Belarusian regions as part of the 8th Forum and almost as many documents on cooperation have been signed between our universities, cultural institutions and other agencies.”
Touching upon the forum’s main topic, Valentina Matvienko underscored that digital and other science-intensive technologies literally permeate all spheres of life, and have become factors driving economic growth of the states and promoting the wellbeing of the people. According to her, Russia and Belarus have always been known for the high level of their academic and industry-specific scientific research and their focus on effective use of advanced research and research products.
“Cooperation in the field of scientific research and technology has been our priority since the Union State’s early years. A range of union programmes in microelectronics, space technology, nuclear energy and many other high-tech spheres has already been implemented,” Valentina Matvienko said.
The Federation Council Speaker believes that digital interaction between Russia and Belarus, including interregional cooperation, can bring good practical results.
Valentina Matvienko spoke highly of a meeting of the Council of Business Cooperation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Russia and Belarus, a meeting of young members of parliament of the two countries, and a meeting of the bilateral Inter-Parliamentary Commission of the upper chambers of parliaments held as part of the Forum of Regions. “We will use the recommendations made during these meetings in our work going forward.”
Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalya Kochanova mentioned the effectiveness of implementing the agreements that had been signed at the forum. She highlighted the importance of strengthening direct contacts between enterprises and research institutions, and also promoting youth dialogue formats, including between young members of parliament from the two countries. The head of the upper house of the Belarusian parliament also addressed the need to support the implementation of joint scientific and technical programmes.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko covered the activities involved in implementing bilateral documents in scientific and technical cooperation. Forming a single information, scientific and technology space is on the list of priorities, the Deputy Prime Minister pointed out. In particular, he noted that a project was in the works to expand the national research computer network and to hook it up to leading research centres and universities from Russia, Belarus and other EAEU countries.
Dmitry Chernyshenko invited the President of Russia and the President of Belarus to take part in the final event of the Science and Technology Year. “In December, in Sirius, we will be summing up the results of the Science and Technology Year, celebrating distinguished researchers, and holding a ceremony to present the Union State Award in Science and Technology,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Igor Petrishenko noted that Russian-Belarusian programmes are designed to advance scientific and technological research. He believes that special focus should go to promising fields of joint scientific research such as an intelligent information analysis system, supercomputers, neural networks, artificial intelligence, new laser materials, space instrumentation and technologies, multi-purpose unmanned systems, nuclear energy, information security, and electric vehicles.
State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev highlighted the implementation of Russia and Belarus’ national digital programmes. “Further efforts to improve, adapt, and update the two countries’ regulations to match breakthrough digital practices and technologies appear to be particularly significant,” Dmitry Mezentsev said.
In her remarks, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture Lilia Gumerova mentioned the joint efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and drafting a single Russian-Belarusian virology strategy among the key areas of cooperation that had been discussed at the forum panels. In addition to this, according to the senator, developing a joint fundamental research programme is a top priority. “Along with this, it is imperative to create a single Union State-operated research infrastructure, including with the involvement of MEGASCIENCE class installations.”
Following the plenary session, the Federation Council Speaker named productive the recommendation issued to the academies of sciences of Russia and Belarus to work through the matter of creating a programme for joint fundamental scientific research. In addition, according to Valentina Matvienko, the forum participants were clear about the priority of public interests over the interests of global transnational corporations. “Based on this premise, we will strive to develop shared approaches to legislative regulation of the digital environment,” she pointed out.
The plenary session was attended by Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valery Falkov, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Chervyakov, Minister of Education of the Republic of Belarus Igor Karpenko, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeyev, Governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobyov and Governor of the Novosibirsk Region Andrei Travnikov, Chairman of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee Vladimir Karanik, President of the National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute Mikhail Kovalchuk, CEO of the Joint Institute for Power and Nuclear Research — Sosny Andrei Kuzmin, heads of enterprises and organisations, and representatives of business circles from the two countries.
Following the forum, Deputy Federation Council Speaker and co-chair of the Russian part of the Interparliamentary Commission of the Federation Council and the Council of the Republic Yury Vorobyov stressed that it is only scientific research that drives economic growth in the modern world. According to him, digitalisation is a key factor when it comes to promoting scientific research and the manufacturing industry, as well as in administering various public agencies. “A single approach to advance scientific and digital spheres is what we need for the Union State and its programmes. The forum has shown that this programme can be carried out in the Union State.”