Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's article on the 30th anniversary of the Organisation of Black Sea Economic Cooperation published in the International Affairs journal on June 17, 2022
25 June 2022 00:01
1339-25-06-2022
BSEC: Riding the waves of opportunity to the seas of common prosperity
This year marks an important milestone, the 30th anniversary of the Organisation of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) which was created amid global change, optimism and hope for eliminating dividing lines in the interest of achieving global peace, well-being and prosperity.
In these 30 years, the BSEC has travelled a path of success starting out as a purely dialogue format and growing into an all-encompassing organisation in the Greater Black Sea region. For the first time in its thousand-year history, the Black Sea region has acquired an identity of its own and a reliable institutional framework. For many years now, the BSEC has been a driving force in developing collective decisions to promote sustainable development, expand economic opportunities, and integrate the Black Sea region into global supply chains.
Russia takes pride in being one of the founders of the BSEC and is one of its active participants. In conjunction with other states, we make consistent efforts to reinforce the organisation's practical potential and to create proper conditions for effective operation. Key initiatives include the creation of a ring road around the Black Sea, sea route expansion, interaction on emergency situations and firefighting, and cooperation between law enforcement agencies. In the foreseeable future, we are counting on positive dynamics in trade facilitation and the introduction of a "one-stop shop" customs clearance mechanism.
Today, in the context of the ongoing formation of a more fair and democratic multipolar order, the BSEC is facing new challenges stemming from imbalances in leading global markets, growing geopolitical differences and the redistribution of global economic power. Growing protectionism, unfair competition and unilateral restrictions are cause for concern.
However, crisis phenomena should not obscure available opportunities. Technological innovations are opening up new horizons in the digital realm. Economically and socially sound solutions are needed to respond to climate change. The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the "bottlenecks" of globalisation, made it necessary to adjust certain conventional approaches and to take a fresh look at regional cooperation.
These circumstances dictate the need to revise BSEC economic strategy. We are on our way to resolving this issue. It is important to focus on promoting region-to-region connectivity and establishing productive cooperation between the BSEC and the EAEU. We are supportive of the "integration of integrations" concept in our efforts to create an absolutely barrier-free economic space within the Greater Eurasian Partnership.
The Black Sea region largely owes its success to its favourable geographical location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and at the junction of trade and transport routes of Eurasia, Africa and the Middle East. Ongoing regional cooperation in trade, customs administration, transport, ICT, tourism, cultural and educational exchanges and agriculture is laying a solid foundation for the further strengthening of its status.
We will continue to push for transport, energy and trade expansion with elements of the green and digital economies. We see great opportunities in deepening cooperation in the banking and financial sectors, in particular through creating a regional mechanism for mutual transactions in national currencies, developing infrastructure for the use of national payment systems in the BSEC countries, promoting digital currencies and mutual recognition of credit ratings. To get there, the member states need to work as a team.
Russia is committed to building up joint efforts through the BSEC Business Council. The significant potential of the International Centre for Black Sea Studies and the Parliamentary Assembly of Black Sea Economic Cooperation should be fully engaged as well.
Pressing ahead with the busy BSEC agenda requires additional extrabudgetary resources. During Russia's chairmanship in 2016, we established the BSEC Project Cooperation Development Facility and donated $1 million to it. To date, almost the entire amount has been put to good use. The funds have been used to expand regional cooperation in tourism, small- and medium-sized businesses, e-commerce, environmental protection and the food industry. We have partnered with the Eurasian Development Bank to explore options for creating innovation project mechanisms.
We look to the future with optimism. Despite the existing difficulties, we believe that the BSEC will remain a meaningful and sought-after platform that will ensure prosperity in the Black Sea region and among its peoples for many years to come.
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