Experts hail PM's Belarus visit

After a successful visit by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Belarus, economic experts said the recently signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between Pakistan and Belarus are timely, integrated, interactive, innovative, effective, and futuristic. They leverage Belarus's comparative advantages in manufacturing capacity, IT innovation, tractor production, mineral exploration, and advanced military production—especially in war drones, ballistic missiles, modern war gadgets and tanks. These must be mutually tapped by aligning with Belarus's systems of governance, delivery, and production.

Belarus's national economy is dominated by its State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in heavy industries, IT, agricultural production and machinery, minerals, energy, fertilisers, and defence production.

Speaking with The Express Tribune, experts said Belarus is an important bridge between East and West with major transit and transportation potential. It has key geographical advantages and is the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) gateway to Europe.

Stronger bilateral ties with Belarus would create a strategic cushion for Pakistan, connecting it to the greater Eurasian region via the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

As a goodwill gesture, Belarus offered to invite over 150,000 young, skilled Pakistani workers. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called it a generous offer that could positively impact the macroeconomy in terms of workers' remittances and exposure to advanced manufacturing industries, IT, hybrid agriculture, and qualitative military production, useful for maintaining regional security and peace.

Comparative studies highlight that Belarusian hi-tech manufacturing, among the best in Eastern Europe, is focused on expanding cooperation across agriculture, food security, and industrial production. Attracting skilled Pakistani workers would add value to Pakistan's IT sector development and exports.

Keeping in view the rapidly changing socio-economic and geo-strategic landscape, Belarus is working to enhance its hi-tech sector through partnerships and joint collaborations, as seen in the recent MoUs to co-manufacture agricultural machinery and electric buses.

"The Belarusian hi-tech park and its IT sector have been termed the 'Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe,' which would be a blessing for Pakistan," said economic strategist and regional expert Dr Mehmoodul Hassan Khan.

He said Belarus's IT sector has seen consistent growth for nearly two decades. Neither COVID-19 nor sanctions following the western-sponsored unrest after the 2020 election stopped its development.

He added that reorienting export routes is now vital for President Alexander Lukashenko's administration. Belarus is breaking international isolation by expanding trade partners in the Global South and strengthening ties with China. Its emerging relationship with Pakistan is a prime example of its economic diplomacy and export diversification.

Joint ventures in IT, digitalisation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), e-commerce, and military production would be beneficial for both sides and their private sectors, Dr Khan said.

"Prime Minister Shehbaz expressed interest in benefiting from Belarus's experience in various areas, especially agriculture. As an agrarian country, Pakistan should utilise the Belarusian model of modern agriculture," he added.

Belarus has rich production expertise in agricultural machinery, especially tractor manufacturing and processing, which contributes significantly to its economy.

Its Minsk plant produces over 62 models of tractors and vehicles, with an annual capacity of 50,000 units.

Environmentally friendly production and advanced technology should also be replicated in Pakistan, given their potential to improve the country's agricultural machinery sector.

Belarus practices mixed crop and livestock farming, with a traditional focus on flax growing. Potatoes, sugar beets, barley, wheat, rye, and corn (maize) are other key crops. Pakistani policymakers should study and adapt these methods to strengthen the local agriculture sector.

Dr Khan suggested forming a corridor for transport and aerial connectivity, establishing a Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and development bank, reciprocal trade houses in Islamabad, Lahore, and Kiev, dual master's degree programmes, and clubbing CPEC with BRI for a mutually beneficial partnership.

Meanwhile, for FY24, Pakistan's exports to Belarus were valued at $1,798,000, while imports from Belarus totalled $27,637,000. Major exports included citrus fruits, rice, salt, leather apparel and accessories, gloves, mittens, men's or boys' suits, rubber- or plastic-soled footwear, surgical and dental instruments, and sports goods.

Imports from Belarus included tractors (excluding work trucks used for short distances), malt extracts, flour-based food preparations, surgical and dental instruments, chemical wood pulp (soda or sulphate), raw or processed flax, and compression-ignition internal combustion piston engines.